Lena Dunham walked the red carpet dressed as a blood splatter. Bad Bunny showed up as an old man. Heidi Klum — whose two modes are wearing lingerie with her daughter or going over the top with Halloween costumes — came as a statue.
But the biggest stones of the night belonged to Blake Lively.
Mere hours after it was announced that she and her “It Ends with Us” co-star Justin Baldoni had settled their very public and very nasty lawsuit, she did what any shameless faux-feminist would do: She showed up at the Met Gala.
Lively wore a dramatic pastel Versace gown, complete with a 13-foot train that looked like a quilt made of shower poufs.
Perhaps, subconsciously, the Hollywood mean girl hoped that the train would slough away all the stubborn muck she’s left on her career, her reputation and her friends’ reputations with her claims.
Ever entitled, Lively showed up expecting a clean slate.
But instead of her usual sarcastic red-carpet interview style, she played the meek introvert. Showing off a custom Judith Leiber bag adorned with watercolor paintings by her four children, she told interviewer La La Anthony in a soft voice: “I’m shy too, so I just like to have my kids with me.”
She previously insisted the lawsuit was her way to empower other women. But Monday night, it was almost like her cause never mattered at all, exposing Lively v Baldoni as the shameless power grab that it was.
After a year and a half of mud-slinging and eye-clawing, the battle was settled with an anodyne statement.
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard,” a joint statement read. “We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments.”
It’s was a polite way to avoid saying the truth: Lively pulled a fake #MeToo.
In reality, a statement from Lively should have contained the distressed emotions of a woman waking up in the aftermath of the nuclear holocaust that she caused.
Remember, not too long ago, Lively cast herself in what she believed would be the role of a lifetime: A shero pushing back against the patriarchy.
In 2024, she filed her lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a retaliatory smear campaign. Because she is married to Hollywood A-Lister Ryan Reynolds, many in the industry came aboard to applaud her bravery. Even her “Traveling Pants” sisters got the band back together to praise Lively’s resilience under such horrific conditions.
“We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others,” her co-stars wrote in a statement.
At the Time 100 gala in 2025, Lively delivered a speech about an assault that allegedly happened to her mother — using the dark vision of womanhood to allude to her own battle with Baldoni.
“We don’t let our daughters know, but one day we break their hearts by letting them in on the secret that we kept from them as they pranced around in princess dresses,” she said. “That they are not, and will likely never be, safe at work, at home, in a parking lot, in a medical office, online, in any space they inhabit physically, emotionally, professionally.”
Of course, as the case progressed and footage from the set was released along with damning text messages and emails, Lively’s claims fell apart like a Temu suit.
We learned more and more about her elaborate scheme to take control of the movie, and how both she and Reynolds tried to rope in A-listers like Taylor Swift and Matt Damon.
More than a year later, Lively is no longer screaming about the abuse of women. She’s wearing happy sherbet hues. But her reputation has been pulverized.
TMZ reported that she didn’t get any money in the settlement. She received a big ol’ goose egg instead of the nearly $300 million she was asking for in damages.
There is no doubt that Lively tapped out because she knew “It Ends with Us” was going to end her if she allowed the trial to go forward.
But on Monday, there was no time to wallow or continue the cause on which she predicated this fight: women’s dignity. What’s a gal to do?
A warrior, Lively put on a designer gown and went to the Met Gala, where she directed minions on how to arrange her fussy train.
It’s hardly the production she anticipated to be directing in 2026. But she was clearly happy to be back rubbing elbows with celebrities.
Harassed and persecuted women will get their due one day. But right now Lively has a glamorous reputation to repair.
