Why Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Are Skipping the 2025 Met Gala

As Hollywood’s fashion glitterati puts their best twist on the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme at the 2025 Met Gala on the first Monday of May, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds won’t be making an appearance. The couple have kept their joint appearances to a minimum this year amid their ongoing court battle with Justin Baldoni, and a source confirmed to People on Friday that Lively and Reynolds plan to skip the biggest night in fashion on May 5.

The Gossip Girl alum and Deadpool actor have been publicly embroiled in a legal drama with Lively’s It Ends With Us co-star, but it’s unlikely that this was a factor in their decision to forgo this year’s Met Gala. While Lively has been called the “Queen of the Met Gala” for her fan-favorite themed looks at past balls, it’s been three years since she last made an iconic Met Gala appearance in a Statue of Liberty-inspired Atelier Versace gown.

"Blake and Ryan haven’t gone since 2022, when they were co-chairs, and they will not be in attendance this year,” a source told People. The Simple Favor actress memorably stole the show in her nod to the Gilded Glamour theme with a tiara and metallic copper dress with a reversible train that she flipped to show off a vivid turquoise hue–a nod to the patina aging of the Statue of Liberty.

While Lively’s Gossip Girl character Serena van der Woodsen frequently made an appearance atop the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s iconic steps, her own track record is much less regular. “She’s not a Kardashian that goes every year,” a source told Us Weekly about Lively’s decision to sit out the 2025 event.

Before 2022, Lively and Reynolds last made a joint Met Gala appearance in 2017 for the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between"-themed event. Lively also made a solo appearance in 2018 for the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" theme, which saw the actress don a custom Versace gown and a halo headdress by Lorraine Schwartz.

Despite their absence at this year’s Met Gala, it’s likely that fashion fans will have plenty of menswear-inspired creations to look forward to. Per Vogue, the exhibit will "feature garments, paintings, photographs, and more—all exploring the indelible style of Black men in the context of dandyism, from the 18th century through present day."

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