Watch: Blake Lively’s Fashion Has Hidden Detail to Her 4 Kids at Met Gala 2026
Hugh Jackman was Blake Lively‘s superhero at the 2026 Met Gala.
Although Ryan Reynolds didn’t attend the New York ball with his wife of nearly 14 years, Jackman was able to fill in for his Deadpool & Wolverine costar and give Lively a hand to help her avoid a wardrobe malfunction on the red carpet.
“My good friend Blake Lively, goes, ‘Dude, I need some help with the dress,'” Jackman explained to Jenna Bush-Hager and Shaneille Jones during a May 6 appearance on Today. He said Lively pointed to the bodice of her dress and noted, “I think there’s a hook in there.”
Before helping the It Ends With Us actress rearrange her “stunning” ball gown—a Versace design with a dramatic 13-foot train—Jackman shot a text message to Reynolds. “I’m like, ‘Ryan, is this cool? Checking. Are we good?’” he recalled, revealing Reynolds replied, “Go for it, brother.”
Reynolds, 49, missed the “cool moment,” as Jackman dubbed it, as he passed on attending Anna Wintour’s annual philanthropic affair.
While Lively didn’t share what her husband was up to away from the cameras, her fashionable ensemble allowed her family to be there with her in spirit. The 38-year-old’s custom handbag showcased “special” artwork from her kids James, 11, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 3, to keep up with the evening’s “Costume Art” theme.
“‘If you’re going to make it custom, would you do my kids’ art?’” Lively recalled to Vogue of what she’d asked her styling team, “So, my kids each painted a watercolor painting.”
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Lively—who announced she settled her It Ends With Us lawsuit with Justin Baldoni earlier that day—went on to joke that she and Reynolds’ four kids probably could’ve fit under her dress. Gesturing to her train, Blake added, “I should’ve just snuck them under there, and then I would’ve had ’em.”
As for Jackman, he kept things sleek on the Met steps in a black velvet tux. Meanwhile, his date, Sutton Foster, brought the razzle-dazzle in a shimmery gold gown for one of their rare red carpet outings since debuting their romance in January 2025.
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And while Reynolds wasn’t on hand for the Met Gala, his bromance with Jackman gets plenty of airtime. The duo has a famously funny friendship of pranking each other, like when Reynolds sent the Broadway star a framed photo of himself as a gift for Jackman’s opening night of The Music Man.
Lively, too, has gotten in on the fun over the years. Reynolds posted a photo of himself and Jackman hanging out at Jackman’s coffee shop—a non-profit venture called Laughing Man Coffee Company—to Instagram in 2018, prompting Blake to comment, “Is the extra distance between you supposed to convince me that you DON’T love him more than me??”
Read on for more priceless celebrity friendships…
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