This may be the Pyrrhic victory of our young century.

One look at Blake Lively atop the Met Gala steps, remonstrating her male minions just hours after her lawsuit against Justin Baldoni was settled, only ratifies how delusional, entitled and out of touch she is.

That Anna Wintour allowed Lively to attend – significantly, sans husband Ryan Reynolds – says it all.

The Met Gala's mask is off: It's nothing more than a convention for The Worst People in the World, purchased by Jeff Bezos.

For reasons that remain unclear, he did not walk the red carpet with his vulgarian bride Lauren Sanchez. Perhaps because 'let them eat cake' doesn’t begin to cover it. 

Wintour, despite reported entreaties, seemingly could not convince her cinematic avatar Meryl Streep to attend.

Nor, reportedly, was she able to convince Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Instead, we proles were treated to: Katy Perry, currently accused of sexual assault (that she denies) by the actress Ruby Rose; Ryan Murphy muse Sarah Paulson, a multimillionaire, wearing a dollar bill mask across her eyes as some sort of ostensible protest; morbidly obese false-rape accuser Lena Dunham; Amy Griffin, currently being sued by a former classmate who alleges Griffin stole the story of her childhood rape for her own memoir The Tell; 14-year-old Blue Ivy Carter, who ignored father Jay-Z's repeated requests to remove her sunglasses; Jay-Z himself, who was a longtime friend of Sean 'Diddy' Combs and who has said nothing against him; and the Kardashians, who generally represent the worst of pop culture.

Harsh Criticism of Blake Lively’s Conduct During the Legal Battle 

So for Blake Lively to outshine all these terrible people as the worst of the worst is truly an accomplishment.

Congrats, Blake!

As the Daily Mail exclusively reports, even her husband was long ago fed up with Blake's insistence on refusing to settle – in spite of the federal judge on this case reportedly urging just that on multiple occasions.

Despite that judge – brother of Hollywood director Doug Liman – recently tossing out the bulk of Lively's case, those sexual harassment claims against Baldoni, in April.

And, as the Daily Mail exclusively reports, Reynolds 'has always been of the mind that she needed to settle and move forward. This has been bad for her [and] bad for their careers… He has pretty much raised his hands and been hands off.'

That's a convenient narrative, given that Reynolds himself was heavily involved in his loathsome wife's battle with Baldoni – accused of bullying him and badmouthing him in emails and texts to other A-list stars, Hollywood execs and It Ends with Us author Colleen Hoover.

According to court filings, Reynolds wrote in a text to Matt Damon and his wife Luciana: '[Justin is] a malignantly vein [sic], sociopathic FAUXminist with almost no sense of boundaries or shame.'

Private Texts Deepening the Public Fallout 

There were also texts between Lively and then-BFF Taylor Swift, who had been present during a meeting between Lively, Reynolds and Baldoni held in the couple's $5.7 million Tribeca loft – the purpose of which, Baldoni alleged, was to threaten him into complying with their wishes.

In a text to Swift before this meeting, Lively asked her to say she was 'freaking out' over a script rewrite Lively had done.

'Having the greatest living storyteller unknowingly echo to him how much you love what we're doing, (giving him credit as if he wrote them with me) will go such a long way,' Lively wrote.

Swift: 'I'll do anything for you!!'

After the meeting, Lively texted Swift: 'You were so epically heroic today… This clown falling for all of it. But also resisting it. You are the world's absolute greatest friend ever. I won the lottery.'

Swift: 'I WON THE LOTTERY. You are the COOLEST PERSON IN THE WORLD and you like me !!'

Again: These people are awful.

Once these texts went public, Swift made it known that she would be keeping her distance from Lively, now and possibly forever.

Reports are that Lively, who named Swift godmother to three of her four children with Reynolds, is not on the guest list for Swift's summer wedding – in New York City.

Savage.

As for the notion that Lively can somehow spin her way out of this, that her appearance at the Met Gala was something of a rebirth – it's the exact opposite.

We're not seeing, as some suspicious social media accounts claim, a 'strong woman' refusing to be cowed by the patriarchy.

We all know what we're seeing: A remorseless celebrity, her talent inversely proportional to her ego, so desperate to remain not just relevant but beloved that she showed her face within hours of the settlement announcement.

Ryan Reynolds Avoiding the Spotlight Amid the Controversy 

The public well knows that dressing for the Met Gala takes months of planning: Meeting with top design houses (Lively wore a candy-colored Atelier Versace princess dress, how subtle); securing the best hair and makeup artists; prepping for questions from the press.

Reynolds had the good sense to stay home. But he's in just as much of a career crisis. During this lawsuit, it was reported that Paramount had dropped several of his projects.

And over on my podcast, The Nerve, we revived a story he surely thought long forgotten: That when he was a teenager, Reynolds set fire to his elementary school, which burned to the ground.

He later joked to a reporter that he hoped some 'poor schmuck' wasn't in prison for what he had done.

So sayonara to Blake and Ryan. Blake, in particular, will likely never get good work again: What director could, or would, possibly trust her?