Blake Lively's Met Gala Appearance Divides Fans as Critics Accuse 'Mean Girl' of 'Bossing Everyone Around': Watch

The Internet is divided about whether Blake Lively behaved bossily or acted like a boss at the Met Gala held Monday, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In the viral video clip on Instagram captioned “The dress said couture. The energy said ‘per my last email,’” married mom-of-four Lively, 38, instructed three men on how to carry her multicolor pastel archival Atelier Versace gown, which billowed with ruffles, up the stairs.

She corrected one man, instructing him on how to do it right, turning from stern to smiley.

One of those men was her cousin William McAlpin, according to The New York Post’s Page Six.

In response, a critic wrote, “It looks like she’s bossing everyone around. Mean girl energy.”

Meanwhile, another user countered, “It looks to me like she’s instructing the people who are hired to assist celebrities on the carpet how to help or not help with her dress. Not mean or bossy just delegating like a boss.”

Hours before, Lively and Justin Baldoni settled their lawsuit.

Neither earned money after a two-year legal battle that alleged Baldoni sexually harassed Lively while filming their 2024 romantic drama It Ends With Us.

He then filed suit against The New York Times alleging libel and false light invasion of privacy after it published an article about the original lawsuit.

Page Six noted that the Gossip Girl star demonstrated a “reserved sadness” and “signs of discomfort” at the event.

Husband Ryan Reynolds, whom she married in 2012, did not attend.

Behavioral analyst Traci Brown told the outlet, “Primarily, she’s radiating happiness with that big open-mouth smile. And in a couple of other moments, we see a closed-mouth smile that doesn’t quite reach all the way to her eyes.”

She continued, “There’s a reserved sadness there. Could these be a reflection of the settlement? Absolutely. Could it be something else? Yes.”

Still, she said, “It wouldn’t be too far of a leap to guess we’re seeing some reflections about the settlement.”

Body language expert Darren Stanton discovered mixed signals.

He told Page Six, “Blake Lively appears to be projecting confidence, with her hands on her hips to make herself appear larger — a classic body language signal of self-assurance. However, there are subtle signs of discomfort we can see in the footage.”

Stanton found her smiles “inconsistent” and told the outlet they were void of “genuine happiness.”

It was out of character.

Stanton said, “She seems slightly tense in the moment — not angry, but not as calm as we typically see her.”