Gossip Girl producer on Blake Lively and Leighton Meester: ‘Not friends’

An interview with Gossip Girl’s executive producer about whether Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were friends has resurfaced. 

It Ends With Us, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, starring Lively and directed by co-star Justin Baldoni has recently launched in cinemas, but has been subject to controversy over a “tone-deaf” marketing campaign given its sensitive themes, and reported tension between the film’s two leads.

Lively and Baldoni have since found themselves in hot water as fans try to piece together what might have happened on set if anything. Lively and Baldoni clashed over different edits of the film before it was released, according to reports, and further stars including Jenny Slate sidestepped questions about working with the director.

After a reporter shared her “uncomfortable” experience interviewing Lively in the past, a resurfaced interview with the producer from the series that shot Lively into fame as her ever-popular character Serena van der Woodsen has transpired.

While some fans have piled on Lively for her alleged “mean girl” behaviour, others have noted that the timing of the video interview resurfacing comes as news surfaces that Baldoni reportedly hired expert crisis PR guru Melissa Nathan, who represented Johnny Depp during his trial with Amber Herd.

Were Blake Lively and Leighton Meester friends?

Back in 2017, when the 2007 drama was celebrating its 10th anniversary, Safran told Vanity Fair that “Blake and Leighton”, the latter playing her co-star Blair Waldorf, “were not friends”. 

Despite the publication noting that “the two got along just fine on set”, they reportedly did not spend time together outside of filming or press run duties. “They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair,” the showrunner added.

“Blake is very much in the moment. Blake knows what’s 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?’”

Meester, however, “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.”

Of course, as fans online pointed out, not everyone is expected to be friends with their colleagues.

Going back further, New York Magazine reported in 2008 that Lively and Meester tended to “avoid each other like the plague” whilst on set, while the tensions rose so much that fellow cast members were forced to “choose sides”.

In 2011, a source told Hollywood Life that there were tensions between the three leading women in the series over a costume budget. 

“Leighton’s wardrobe budget was increased, and she started getting some amazing clothes that the other two girls [Lively and Taylor Momsen] were jealous of. 

“Blake has the most success outside the show in feature films, so she was really annoyed about the wardrobe situation because she felt it was done behind her back.”

A representative for Lively told 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.”