Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds skip Met Gala in 'strategic' move amid legal drama

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were no-shows at the 2025 Met Gala, missing the biggest night in fashion as they remain entangled in a high-profile legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

The annual fashion event took place Monday, May 5, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. But Lively, a longtime Met Gala favourite, and Reynolds, her frequent date, opted to stay out of the spotlight this year.

The couple’s absence wasn’t unexpected. In March, a source told People, “Blake and Ryan haven’t gone since 2022, when they were co-chairs, and they will not be in attendance this year.”

However, PR expert Grayce McCormick tells Daily Express US that it was more of a “calculated move.”

“While sources indicate that their choice was made before the escalation of their legal dispute,” she said, “the timing aligns with a period of heightened public scrutiny.”

Lively, 37, and Reynolds, 48, are currently locked in duelling lawsuits with Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios. In December 2024, Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a retaliatory smear campaign.

Baldoni has denied the claims and countersued the couple and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, for $400 million. The couple has called his lawsuit “meritless,” with a trial set for March 2026.

McCormick added that skipping the Gala “can be seen as a strategic effort to maintain a lower profile” and avoid “becoming a lightning rod for controversy that could overshadow the Met Gala.”

Still, Lively isn’t completely disappearing from the public eye. Her recent appearances at the Another Simple Favor premiere and TIME100 Gala suggest she’s carefully choosing when and where to step into the spotlight.