Blake Energetic stepped out for the 2026 Met Gala just hours after it was revealed that she and Justin Baldoni reached a settlement of their lawsuit, meaning the case won’t go to trial.
The Gossip Girl alum, 38, dressed for the “Costume Art” theme on the Monday, May 4, event at Latest York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. She opted to wear a pastel Atelier Versace dress, which featured a draped bodice that was embroidered with gemstones and featured shades of powdery pink, yellow, coral, peach and lilac. The dress also included a protracted train, which she showed up while walking up the steps of the venue.
Energetic accessorized the look with a custom Judith Leiber Couture bag, which was personalized with colourful artworks that were made by her 4 children.
She walked the red carpet alone, as her husband, Ryan Reynolds, seemingly skipped the event.
Energetic has been a Met Gala standout since making her debut on fashion’s biggest night in 2008. Reynolds — whom she married in September 2012 — notably joined her on the glamorous event for his or her first red carpet appearance as a pair in 2014. After years of setting the style standard for Met Gala fashion statements, Energetic had been absent from the annual fundraiser since 2023 and before making her return this yr.
Energetic’s attendance on the 2026 gala comes exactly two weeks before her trial against Baldoni, 42, was scheduled to start on May 18. Nevertheless, it was confirmed that Energetic and Baldoni reached a settlement within the case just hours before she and Reynolds hit the Met Gala red carpet.
“The tip 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 within the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind,” Energetic and Baldoni said in an announcement to Us Weekly via their attorneys on May 4. “We acknowledge the method presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Energetic deserved to be heard.”
The statement continued, “We remain firmly committed to workplaces freed from improprieties and unproductive environments. It’s our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to maneuver forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”
In December 2024, Energetic sued her It Ends With Us costar and director, Baldoni, for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages. Baldoni denied the allegations and countersued Energetic in January 2025, though his case was ultimately dismissed that June.
Shortly before Energetic and Baldoni were scheduled to go to court over her accusations, federal judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 of Energetic’s 13 claims from her lawsuit in April. Her allegations of harassment, defamation and conspiracy were thrown out, while her claims of breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation were allowed to proceed to trial.
Blake Energetic Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
On the time, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman told TMZ in an announcement that it was “gratifying” to see that the court ruling “confirms what the legal team believed from day one” — that Baldoni and his codefendants “haven’t engaged on this sexual harassment as alleged.”
Meanwhile, Energetic’s attorney Michael Gottlieb said in an announcement to Us that it was “completely unsurprising that Bryan Freedman doesn’t understand the court’s actual ruling.”
“What the court actually decided yesterday is that Blake Energetic provided evidence to go to trial on her core claims: that she spoke out against what she believed was sexual harassment on the set and suffered retaliation that harmed her repute because of this,” Gottlieb continued. “The court’s ruling that Ms. Energetic’s state and federal harassment claims couldn’t go to trial was about legal issues quite than an endorsement of the defendants’ conduct.”
Through the years, Blake Energetic has consistently slayed the annual Met Gala red carpet irrespective of the motif. Energetic first attended the annual fundraiser on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Latest York City back in 2008. To have fun the Costume Institute’s “Superheroes: Fashion And Fantasy” theme, she turned heads in a strapless, black grown […]
Gottlieb added, “The court held that Ms. Energetic’s sexual harassment claims couldn’t go to a jury because Ms. Energetic didn’t sign a contract, that she is an independent contractor as an alternative of an worker and that the offensive conduct occurred in Latest Jersey as an alternative of California.”
Energetic, for her part, spoke out in regards to the judge’s decision via her Instagram Story on the time.
“I’m grateful for the court’s ruling which allows the center of my case to be presented to a jury next month, and for the flexibility to finally tell my story in full at trial, for my very own sake, but in addition for individuals who don’t have the identical opportunity to … a lot of whom I even have known and loved deeply in my life and the countless I’ll never know,” she wrote. “The last item I wanted in my life was a lawsuit, but I brought this case due to pervasive RETALIATION I faced, and continued to, for privately and professionally asking for a protected working environment for myself and others.”
Energetic added that she “won’t ever stop doing” her part to “expose the systems and other people who seek to harm, shame, silence and retaliate against victims.”
“I understand it’s a privilege to give you the chance to arise. I is not going to waste it,” she concluded. “Your support keeps me going.”