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On Monday night, Blake Lively attended the 2026 Met Gala.
Before that, less than a month after both parties rejected a settlement, she and Justin Baldoni made a surprising decision.
They settled their case just two weeks before going to trial.
Who won? That’s … complicated.
She dazzled at the Met Gala
Before we get into what we know about her settlement, let’s dive into Lively attending Monday night’s charitable fundraiser.
The actress looked bright and full of color in an archival Versace gown.
(In this case, “archival” means from 2006.)
Speaking to Vogue on the red carpet, Lively explained that the look was inspired by “a sunrise and a sunset and watercolor.”
As you can see in the photo above and the video below, she was absolutely gorgeous.
Lively looked radiant.
She also looked happy.
Lively is, after all, an actress. She might put on a happy face for any public appearance, and do a more convincing job than most.
However, she might have had an extra reason to smile.
Mere hours earlier, Lively had settled her high-profile legal battle against Justin Baldoni.
The legal war is over!
On Monday, May 4, Lively and Baldoni released a carefully phrased joint statement marking the end of their legal struggle.
“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,” the statement began, Variety reports.
“Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind,” the two continued.
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges,” the statement continued, “and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard.”
That is interesting. Note that this joint statement gives a shout-out to Lively, but not to her foe.
“We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments,” the joint statement claimed.
“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 statement concluded.
Some have chosen to immediately characterize this as a loss for Lively. That is possible, after a court tossed out about 3/4 of the points of her lawsuit a month ago. Not on a basis of fact, but on technicalities — like that, as an independent contractor on the film, she was not entitled to certain federal Title VII protections.
But we have to note that the joint statement appears to defer, at least in part, to Lively. And the statement is the only detail about the settlement that we know right now.
Many around the country are breathing a sigh of relief. Having watched some infamous cases in which very bad men used courtrooms to make things worse for women everywhere, this trial had a lot of people in a state of dread.