Taking a victory lap by any other name, Blake Lively showed up at the Met Gala tonight just hours after Justin Baldoni settled the It Ends With Us star’s retaliation lawsuit against him, his company and PR firm.
The actress wore a pastel-colored gown of peaches, purples and yellows with a bejewled bodice and a long, flowy train, not unlike her Statue of Liberty gown at the 2022 celebration. The theme of this year’s Met Gala is Costume Art with a dress code direction of “Fashion Is Art.”
In a way, the move makes sense as Another Simple Favor (2025), the sequel to the Paul Feig-directed A Simple Favor (2019) starring Lively and Anna Kendrick was released on Prime Video, and Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez are honorary co-chairs and lead financial sponsors of this year’s gala.
“The end product – the movie It Ends With Us – is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind, lawyers for Baldoni and Lively said today as their dispute, which began at the end of 2024, came to a close.
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard,” added the joint statement by Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb, and Esra Hudson. “We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”
The news of the settlement came just two weeks ahead of the lawsuit heading to court, where both parties would have stepped before a jury in a Manhattan trial.
Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, was absent from the event. His Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) costar Hugh Jackman was in attendance with Sutton Foster.
Dominic Patten contributed to this report.
