Gossip Girl: Everything We Know About the HBO Max Reboot Premiering in July

It’s unclear specifically what her comments refer to or how specifically the show will address COVID-19, which severely affected NYC in 2020. Sarah Jessica Parker has confirmed that Sex and the City’s HBO Max reboot, another famously New York city-based show, will address the pandemic because of how hard the city was hit by the virus. She told Vanity Fair that it will “obviously be part of the storyline, because that’s the city [these characters] live in.”

But Gossip Girl will take place after the COVID-19 pandemic. As Cosmo reported in its cover story, Safran confirmed the show will take place in “The After,” aka post-pandemic New York, where everyone is vaccinated and quarantine is a practice of the past.

Will the original cast make an appearance?

The new characters will reference Serena, Blair, Chuck, and Dan, but the O.G. Gossip Girl characters won’t be in the show.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Safran explained that he thinks of the reboot of Gossip Girl in relation to the original series as “like the Marvel universe. It’s not a continuation or a sequel. It truly just is looking at a different angle.”

In January 2020, Lively, who portrayed Serena van der Woodsen during the show’s original run, confirmed that she’s not “involved” in the reboot, per E! When asked about when production would begin on the project, she responded, “I don’t know. I’m not a producer. I’m not involved. You gotta call them.”

Previously, Lively had been more open to a reboot. She spoke to Variety in April 2017, saying that she’d be fairly open to doing Gossip Girl with the original cast. “It sort of all depends,” Lively said. “Would I do seven years of the show? No, because it’s hard work and I’ve got my babies, and I don’t want to be away from them that much. But I’ve just learned in life you never say never.”

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Penn Badgley isn’t super interested but won’t rule out the possibility.

In the past, Badgley didn’t have much excitement about playing Dan Humphrey again. “I don’t think that could happen for maybe another 10 years because if you look at the shows that are being rebooted, they’re much older,” he told Marie Claire Australia in September 2018. “I don’t think any of us are interested in that, the creators or the cast.”

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But in a December 2019 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Badgley seemed more open to the idea. “Could Dan Humphrey…? I don’t… That’s a message I gotta put at the top of my inbox, you know, to think about,” Badgley told reporter Lauren Zima. “I have not had conversations with any of the creators yet, but you know…” he teased, his voice reportedly trailing off.

He continued, “I think it’s pretty clear that, like, I’ve never been a proponent of Dan Humphrey’s. I’ve never been necessarily the greatest friend or fan of Dan Humphrey, which now I reconcile in this way that I’m like, you know, I would love to contribute in a meaningful way to it. And I guess it would just depend on a lot of things…It would depend on how and why he’s there.”

Hilary Duff would return, if asked.

In November 2019, Duff told ELLE.com that if asked, she’d be down to return to Gossip Girl. “I did hear that’s coming back and I got very excited. I would love to make a cameo,” she confirmed. Fans may remember that Duff played actress Olivia Burke in a nine-episode arc of season 3. While on the series, she lived with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) and briefly romanced Dan (Badgley).

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Leighton Meester has said she wouldn’t say no.

When Meester spoke to Vanity Fair about a possible reboot in August 2017, she seemed somewhat open to the idea of reprising the role of Blair Waldorf, but approached the topic with hesitation. “I guess I hear that [reunion talk] in fits and starts here and there, but it’s hard to say,” she said. “If everyone was into it and if the timing was right, you know? I don’t want to say, ‘No, never…’”

Meester has a clear vision of what Blair would be doing now. “When we last left Blair Waldorf, she had a kid with [Chuck Bass], and she was running her own fashion company,” she told ELLE in February 2017. “Blair Waldorf is probably about to debut her new fashion line. She’s probably doing New York Fashion Week! She’s got a runway somewhere.”

After the news dropped that a reboot was a possibility, Meester was asked by E! News in April 2019 if she would be open to doing Gossip Girl again. “No one’s ever asked me,” she responded. “No one’s ever talked to me about it except for in interviews, and I always say the same. I never say never. So, I don’t know. No one’s sent me that information, it’s coming from you.”

Chace Crawford has said he definitely wants to make a cameo in the reboot.

In December 2018, Crawford told Us Weekly that he would “be open to talking about something” but was under the impression that a reboot wasn’t in discussion.

Then, in July 2019, Crawford mused a limited series could be a possibility—and he’d be down to appear in it, telling Digital Spy, “I don’t know what it would look like with us being in our 30s now, but I always say, because it was such a big part of my life, I’m open to anything. It would have to be really right, and really specific, and with TV and the golden age of the TV streaming service, maybe an eight-episode season…”

Crawford pointed out it wouldn’t be easy to assemble all the original stars. “It would be very tough to get everybody on board I think because of their schedules, Penn, Leighton, Ed…The reboot might come in the form of new characters. I would absolutely cameo. I’d have to!”

We know now that we are getting 10 one-hour episodes. Does that meet Crawford’s standards?

Ed Westwick is not really a fan of the idea.

When Westwick sat down for an interview with Radio Times in May 2017, he said that he feels like the idea of a Gossip Girl reboot is impossible, and that his character, Chuck Bass, is “played out.”

“Nah, that’s not gonna happen,” he told the interviewer. “I know there’s a bunch of them coming back—I hear they’re doing Will and Grace, they’ve done Gilmore Girls… But it’s such a strange thing to think about. It feels like we only just finished! And I haven’t done enough in between yet to feel like I could comfortably revisit it. And I did so much with that character—it’s played out, man. It’s done.” In spite of his harsh words, Westwick said he would take up the opportunity to play Chuck again—but only if he was offered millions of dollars.

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Taylor Momsen has since quit acting, so it’s unlikely she’d return.

Momsen experienced growing pains when filming Gossip Girl. While on set, she focused her attention on music and eventually began touring with her rock band, The Pretty Reckless. “I’m very lucky that the producers were nice enough to write me out, allow me to tour, and pursue my passion, because they very easily could have told me to go f–k myself and keep me on the show,” she told The Daily Beast in 2014. And as far as returning to play Jenny Humphrey? “I’m not looking to go back to it,” she told Riverfront Times in 2014. “Gossip Girl was a great experience, and it helped in one way and hurt in another, but it feels like forever ago.”

Where will the new Gossip Girl take place?

The show will venture beyond the Upper East Side, believe it or not.

“Not everyone lives on the Upper East Side, though,” Safran told ET when explaining the new show’s vision. “Brooklyn’s not the bad place to live. Brooklyn’s probably cooler in the new version than Manhattan, ‘cause it is in some places [in real life]. Other than that, it has the DNA of the original.” As for how controversial the series will get, no matter the borough? Safran admitted to the outlet, “Luckily, we’ll be airing post-Euphoria, so anything we do will seem tame by comparison. I don’t think we’ll be that controversial.”

Will Kristen Bell reprise her role as narrator?

Absolutely. On November 7, 2019, The Wrap reported that Kristen Bell will narrate the new series, just as she did for the original’s first six seasons. “Kristen Bell has always been and will always be the voice of Gossip Girl,” the producers said in a statement.

Bell’s timeless sign-off, “You know you love me, XOXO, Gossip Girl,” appeared in all 121 episodes of the show. The actress also appeared on the CW series in a quick cameo in the series finale.

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So what is the new “Gossip Girl”? A blog? A social media account?

Safran didn’t tell Cosmo exactly what he meant by this, but modern Gossip Girl is apparently much more than a blog. It’s now a social-media app or platform of some kind. Sounds…terrifying.

“My hope is that we make it to airing and people don’t know,” Safran told Cosmo about what, exactly Gossip Girl 2.0 is. “I would love to see that conversation happen in the context of people having seen it as opposed to talking about something they haven’t seen.”

Where will the show air?

The series premiere will hit HBO Max on Thursday, July 8, and will then air on The CW as part of an hour and a half long special on July 9 at 8 p.m., per The Hollywood Reporter. However, there are no current plans for the remainder of the series to air on cable, so if you want to watch each episode as it drops weekly, you’ll need a subscription (or free trial) for HBO Max.

Watch Gossip Girl (2007) on HBO Max

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