Blake Lively made a public appearance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, attending the 2026 World Cup final with three friends. The actress, 38, documented the outing on her Instagram Stories, posting a selfie from near the pitch before the match began.
The former Gossip Girl star appeared in casual summer attire for the event, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt layered beneath a printed open shirt. She accessorized with a chunky statement necklace and sunglasses as she smiled for the camera at the stadium.
Her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was not present at the World Cup final but attended a separate soccer-related event in Manhattan the same day. The 49-year-old actor participated in a panel at the FIFA World Cup's Fanatics Fest, sharing images from the appearance on his own Instagram Stories. Reynolds co-owns Wrexham A.F.C., a professional Welsh football club.
The stadium appearance comes amid continuing legal disputes between Lively and Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director from the film It Ends With Us. The 17-month legal conflict began in December 2024 when Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni, 42, which also alleged he orchestrated a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni denied the accusations and filed a countersuit, which was dismissed by a court in June 2025. The parties reached a settlement in May of this year, just weeks before a scheduled trial was set to begin.
Following the settlement, Lively requested that Baldoni pay $8,035,040.88 in attorney fees and related costs. On July 13, Baldoni's legal team filed opposition to that request. His attorneys, Ellyn S. Garofalo and Bryan Freedman, argued in court documents that the motion should be rejected entirely.
"Lively fails to meet her burden to present credible evidence showing that the fees and costs she seeks to recover are reasonable and, accordingly, her fee motion should be denied in its entirety," the attorneys stated in the filing, according to Us Weekly.
The legal filing also drew comparisons to a separate case involving the New York Times, which sought $181,622.70 in attorney fees related to dismissing a defamation claim. Baldoni had previously filed an unsuccessful $250 million defamation lawsuit against the newspaper over its coverage of the alleged smear campaign.
Earlier this month, Baldoni and his wife Emily broke a nearly two-year public silence regarding the legal battle. In a joint video posted to Instagram on July 8, the couple addressed their situation for the first time since the controversy began.
"We have not done this in a while, so we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years and it's not because we haven't had anything to say," Baldoni said in the video, according to Us Weekly. Emily, 41, added that determining the right moment and message had been challenging but emphasized their gratitude during this period.
The legal proceedings continue as both parties await a court decision on the attorney fees dispute. Meanwhile, Lively appears to be maintaining her public presence, attending high-profile sporting events in the New York metropolitan area.
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Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a pop culture junkie and loves to share what's happening in Hollywood and what trends are taking the world by storm.
