With the Internet alight over Blake Lively’s tension with her It Ends with Us director and costar Justin Baldoni, fans are now looking back over rumors of drama between the A-list star and fellow actress Leighton Meester during the Gossip Girl era.
Lively, 36, and Meester, 38, headlined the CW series over its six-season run, 121-episode run from 2007-2012.
The teen romance drama, which was created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, focused on a group of wealthy teens on New York City’s Upper East Side, with a gossip blogger (Kristen Bell) narrating the proceedings.
Lively and Meester played the respective roles of Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf on the series, which also featured Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Kelly Rutherford.
‘Blake and Leighton were not friends,’ executive producer Joshua Safran told Vanity Fair in an August 2017 article commemorating the 10th anniversary of the show.
Amid reports detailing Blake Lively ‘s tension with her It Ends with Us director and costar Justin Baldoni, Dailymail.com is taking a closer look at a past professional relationship the A-list actress, 36, had with her costar on Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester, 38
Lively and Meester headlined the CW series over its six-season run, 121-episode run from 2007-2012. Pictured in 2009 in NYC
He compared the actresses to their respective characters, saying, ‘They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair.’
The performers had very different personalities, Safran told the publication: ‘Blake is very much in the moment. Blake knows what’s happening.
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‘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?”‘
Meester, in contrast, had a ‘very removed and very quiet’ demeanor, and that ‘after her scenes were done, she would wander the stage,’ Safran said.
An April 2008 report from New York Magazine quoted sources that said Lively and Meester had a tendency to ‘avoid each other like the plague’ while filming the series.
The rivalry escalated to the point that other members at the case essentially had to ‘choose sides’ in the matter.
A publicist for Lively commented on the professional relationship, according to Harper’s Baazar in 2017, ‘Blake and Leighton have never been best friends, and never professed to be. Blake goes to work, does her job, and goes home.’
Also noteworthy in the alleged rift between the former costars are the Instagram accounts actor Penn Badgley, 37, who played Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl, are following.
Badgley, who was romantically-involved with Lively for three years during their time as costars, was not following Lively, but both Meester and Baldoni were listed among the 297 accounts he was following as of Thursday evening.
Also noteworthy in the alleged rift between the former costars are the Instagram accounts Penn Badgley, who plated Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl, are following. Meester, Badgley and Lively pictured in 2007 in NYC
Badgley, who was romantically involved with Lively for three years during their time as costars, was not following Lively, but both Meester and Baldoni were listed among the 297 accounts he was following as of Thursday evening
Lively and Meester had a tendency to ‘avoid each other like the plague’ while filming the series, according to a 2008 report. Pictured in June 2008 in Port Washington, New York
The rivalry escalated to the point that other members at the case essentially had to ‘choose sides’ in the matter
Meester, Lively and Taylor Momsen pictured in a publicity photo for the series in 2008
Amid the recent headlines about Lively, a number of Twitter users referred back to the relationship between Lively and Meester
Amid the recent headlines about Lively, a number of Twitter users referred back to the relationship between Lively and Meester.
‘Watching all the Blake Lively drama while promoting “It ends With Us,”‘ said one user, ‘makes me feel like we all owe Leighton Meester an apology…’
One user asked, ‘Why is everyone acting like Leighton Meester didn’t already tell us about Blake Lively years ago?’ while another said, ‘Blake lively acts like she’s better than everyone she isn’t even a great actress she was outshined by a side character aka leighton meester in her show #gossipgirl.’
One user suggested, ‘Real ones know Blake Lively has always been unlikable which is why she wasn’t friends with angel on earth Leighton Meester.’
Another user said that ‘witnessing Blake Lively’s downfall has been delicious’ and that ‘the icing on the cake would be my girl leighton meester having her well deserved resurgence.’
Meester has been married to actor Adam Brody, 44, for more than 10 years, and the pair are parents to two children, daughter Arlo, nine, and a son, three, whose name they have not publicly revealed.
Lively shares four children with husband of 12 years, Ryan Reynolds, 47 – daughters James, nine, Inez, seven, and Betty, four, and son Olin, one.
Meester has steadily worked in both TV and film in the 12 years since Gossip Girl went off the air.
Meester has steadily worked in both TV and film in the 12 years since Gossip Girl went off the air. Pictured in Milan last year
Lively’s career is soaring amid her starring role in It Ends With Us and cameo in her spouse Ryan Reynolds’ summer blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine. Pictured earlier this month in NYC
One user posted the popular ‘Disaster Girl’ meme, saying, ‘leighton meester seeing the 2024 exposé of blake lively’
Multiple users said in social media posts that Meester is more worthy of professional success than Lively
She has appeared in motion pictures such as 2023’s EXmas, 2023’s River Wild, 2022’s The Weekend Away, 2014’s Life Partners, 2014’s The Judge and 2014’s Mice and Men.
Among the TV roles she has had include on shows such as Single Parents, How I Met Your Father, The Orville and Making History.
Multiple users said in social media posts that Meester is more worthy of professional success than Lively, whose career is soaring amid her starring role in It Ends With Us and cameo in her spouse Reynolds’ summer blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine.
Said one user: ‘My Friday morning Ted Talk is that Leighton Meester is a far better actress with significantly better comedic skills and timing than Blake Lively, and she should be the more famous one. Thank you.’
Another said, ‘It’s funny how everyone says Leighton Meester deserved Blake Lively’s success cuz Blake’s acting career is honestly nothing to write home about.’
One user posted the popular ‘Disaster Girl’ meme, saying, ‘leighton meester seeing the 2024 exposé of blake lively.’