The Truth to Rumors Blake Lively Paid to Attend the Met Gala After Her Revenge Dress Following Her & Justin Baldoni’s Legal Settlement
Blake Lively went straight from the courthouse to the 2026 Met Gala. Her appearance at the annual fundraising event—which took place on Monday, May 4—came shortly after she settled her years-long legal dispute against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
But once Lively approached those iconic Met steps, rumors started circulating on social media that she wasn’t invited to the gala—she allegedly paid over six figures to attend. However, Us Weekly dispelled the chatter in a May 5 report and confirmed that Lively was, indeed, invited to the Met Gala.
A source told the outlet that the Gossip Girl actress was formally invited as a guest of former Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast’s global chief content officer Anna Wintour.
Lively, who hadn’t attended the Met Gala since 2022, arrived on the red carpet in a revenge dress that was on-theme and embraced the “Fashion Is Art” dress code. She donned an archival pastel-colored Atelier Versace gown from the Spring 2006 collection.
The Blake Brown founder told Vogue she returned to the Met Gala after years away with a renewed sense of self, subtly alluding to her legal battle with Baldoni.
“Every year I am a different version of myself than the last, so to be able to stand in the version of myself that I am today—and all the experiences I‘ve had—in strength and confidence is important to me,” she explained. “So is staying home on the couch with my kids in pajamas. Getting to do both is an honor I will never stop being grateful for.”
According to Vogue, Lively’s dress was “inspired by 18th-century Venetian Rococo paintings.”
“Because the theme is based in art, I wanted to wear an archival piece,” she said. “Clothing really is a canvas, and it tells a story, so to be able to pull from a piece that has its own history, and has stood the test of time, felt special.”
She continued, “What made this piece ‘the one,’ is that the gown is the color of both a sunrise and a sunset, representing so much beauty, warmth and the many layers and nuances in the closing of one day and the beginning of another. Honoring the cycles of life and time in the most beautiful way. Art that has personal, interpretive, and meaningful stories within them is the work that moves me most as a fan.”
Donatella Versace told the outlet that Lively looked “stunning” in the dress, adding, “She has had so many iconic Versace moments at The Met, and tonight is no exception.”
