Watch: Blake Lively Makes Surprise Met Gala Appearance Hours After Justin Baldoni Settlement
Spotted:Blake Lively on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The It Ends With Us star—who settled her yearlong legal battle with director and costar JustinBaldoni—returned to the 2026 Met Gala with a bang on May 4, stepping out in a stunning colorful halter gown made by Versace in 2006 for the night’s “Fashion Is Art”-dress code. (See all the celebrities at the Met Gala here.)
And Blake had a very special accessory for the “Costume Art”-themed event: a purse featuring art by her and husband Ryan Reynolds’ children James, 11, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 3.
“This is a Judith Leiber bag,” the 38-year-old shared with Vogue, “and we were trying to find a piece of famous iconic art to put on and make it look like it’s in a frame.”
“Then I said, ‘If you’re gonna do it custom, can you do my kids’ art?’ So my kids each painted a watercolor painting,” Blake continued. “Each of my four kids did this. Isn’t that special? So I have them with me.”
And the purse gave Blake the strength she needed for fashion’s biggest night.
“I’m shy too, I just like to have my kids with me,” she explained. “I probably could’ve fit them under my dress to be honest.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Of course, Blake is no stranger to the Met. In addition to filming many Gossip Girl scenes on the museum’s famed staircase, she’s been a staple at its annual ball since 2008, when shemade her debut in a black feathery design from Ralph Lauren for that year’s “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”-themed affair.
Since then, she has only upped her fashion game and transformed—quite literally—into a style icon before our very eyes. Most notably, when she co-chaired the 2022 Met Gala‘s “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” bash alongside Ryan, Blake turned heads in a Versace Atelier gown that changed from metallic copper to mint green to represent the patina on the Statue of Liberty.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
In fact, the look wasso iconic that it ended up being featured at Kensington Palace’s Crown to Couture exhibition. And when Blake went to visit her dress, she couldn’t help but to play stylist once again, hopping over the rope cordoning off the display to perfect the way the skirt fell.
“This was absolutely surreal,” she wrote on her Instagram Story at the time. “I still feel like a kid playing dress up every time I get to wear a gown and borrowed jewels out.”
Blake added, “To see it memorialized like this… just. Wow. Something I’ll never forget.”
And for more show-stopping outfits from this year’s Met Gala, keep reading.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
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Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
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David Fisher/Shutterstock
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
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Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
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Matt Baron/Shutterstock
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
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Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Tune in to E! today, May 4, starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT for every must-see moment from the Met Gala 2026.
