These "Gossip Girl" Stars "Avoided Each Other Like the Plague" on Set
Rumors flew about the two actors during the teen drama's heyday.
The original Gossip Girl series featured dozens of storylines about friends, enemies, and—most often—frenemies, during its six season run from 2007 to 2012. And while any drama that happened behind the scenes couldn't possibly have reached the level of what was shown on the melodramatic series, two of the stars reportedly feuded to the point of not even talking. During the early days of the series, it was rumored that Blake Lively and Leighton Meester did not get along. And it's something both stars and a producer of the show went on to talk about publicly.
Lively and Meester played Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf, respectively. The two characters were the best of friends at some points, but also spent a lot of time plotting each other's downfalls. So, it's no surprise that audiences were invested in their real-life relationship too. Read on to find out more about the clash and to see what those involved had to say.
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They were said to have "avoid[ed] each other like the plague."
In 2008, it was reported that Lively and Meester weren't friendly on set, and that it led to tension with their other co-stars. A source told the New York Daily News, "Leighton Meester and Blake Lively avoid each other like the plague while castmates choose sides."
The source continued of their co-stars, "Chace Crawford [Nate] tends to stick close to Leighton, while Penn Badgley [Dan] hangs on and offscreen with Blake. The crew will snag Blake for a scene just moments before it is shot so they can avoid any awkwardness with Leighton."
They were supposedly jealous of each other.
The same year, the New York Daily News also published a blind item thought to be about the teen drama stars.
"Which rival young actresses on the same hit show are forced to pose together at PR events, even though they hate each other?" it reads. "One resents the other for having knocked her off her 'star of the show' pedestal."
As reported by Harper's Bazaar there were also rumors that Lively was jealous of the wardrobe budget for Meester's character and that Meester thought Lively was an "egomaniac."
Meester called the rumor out as sexist.
A couple of months after the New York Daily News report, the cast of the show was interviewed by New York magazine, and Lively and Meester were asked about reports of a power struggle. Both actors denied that there was animosity between them.
"I was just reading something about, like, how Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson didn't get along [on the set of The Other Boleyn Girl]," Meester said. "Why don't they say that George Clooney and Brad Pitt don't get along? It's always the girls."
The article also noted that Meester and Lively didn't seem particularly close, however. Reportedly, Meester often hung out with some of their co-stars outside of work. Lively didn't seem to be as involved, but she told the magazine that she was friendly with her castmates.
Lively put out an eyebrow-raising statement.
Harper's Bazaar reports that Lively's rep ended up sharing a statement that didn't exactly put the feud rumors to rest.
"Blake and Leighton have never been best friends, and never professed to be. Blake goes to work, does her job, and goes home," the publicist reportedly said.
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Their co-stars have weighed in.
In 2017, a number of people involved in the show spoke to Vanity Fair for the series' tenth anniversary and the feud rumors were brought up again.
Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Georgina Sparks said, "It's funny. Because when we were filming, there was, 'Leighton hates Blake, Blake hates Leighton, everyone hates Blake, everyone hates Leighton, everyone hates Chace,' and blah, blah, blah. It really wasn't. We were all chill. It was cool."
Meanwhile, producer Joshua Safran confirmed that Lively and Meester weren't close friends, but that they got along well enough.
"Blake is very much in the moment," Safran said. "Blake knows what's happening. She knows this movie's coming out, this band is happening. You talk to Blake on a very contemporary level, and she would be like, 'I'm doing this thing tonight. Have you been to this restaurant?' Leighton was very removed and very quiet, and, after her scenes were done, she would wander the stage. I had this image of her just in these gorgeous dresses with a book in her hand, sort of a little bit out of focus out in the corners."
He continued, "Blake and Leighton were not friends. They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair. Yet the second they'd be on set together, it's as if they were."
