Sorry, Upper East Siders: The Gossip Girl reboot will not continue at HBO Max, per The Hollywood Reporter. The cancelation news arrives a week before the second season finale is set to air.
However, there could still be a slight chance the series finds life on another network or streaming platform. The title will be shopped around, THR reports. So far it’s unclear which outlets are interested.
In the meantime, showrunner and creator Joshua Safran addressed the cancelation online, posting on Twitter and telling THR in a statement:
“So here’s the goss: it is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce Gossip Girl will not be continuing on HBO Max. The EPs and I will forever be grateful to the network and studio for their faith and support; the writers for their devious brains and dexterous talent; the superstar cast for being the greatest of collaborators and friends; and the crew for their hard work, dedication and love for the project. This was honestly the greatest set I ever worked on, top to bottom. We are currently looking for another home, but in this climate, that might prove an uphill battle, and so if this is the end, at least we went out on the highest of highs. Thank you all for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo”
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So here’s the goss: it is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce GOSSIP GIRL will not be continuing on HBO Max. The EPs and I will forever be grateful to: pic.twitter.com/kLpEn8kCMG
— Joshua Safran (@Anthologist) January 19, 2023
HBO Max also responded to the news in a statement:
“We are very grateful to Josh Safran, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for bringing us back to the Upper East Side and all the scandals at Constance Billard. Although we are not moving forward with a third season of Gossip Girl, we thank them for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience.”
The Gossip Girl reboot premiered in 2021 to immense fanfare—according to HBO Max, at the time, it was the most-watched debut of an original series on its platform. The second season made a quieter arrival in late 2022.
The original Gossip Girl, which premiered on the CW in 2007, catapulted leads like Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and Penn Badgley into teen stardom. While the reboot takes place in the same world as the initial show, it featured a new, more diverse cast and more racially and sexually inclusive storylines. “[The original] Gossip Girl was how life was seen then. And this version is very much true to this time,” lead actress Whitney Peak previously told ELLE.
The past two seasons included a few cameos and Easter eggs for fans, including characters like Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Nelly Yuki (Yin Chang). Still, while some diehard fans of the original were skeptical of the revival, star Jordan Alexander said she could “completely understand” where the criticism came from.
“There’s nothing like nostalgia; it’s just a really, really good feeling, so I can understand people wanting to protect that. But I would say this will not steal any of your nostalgia,” she previously told ELLE.com.
She added, “You can still very much have the first Gossip Girl and then experience this new chapter or next era. It’s all of the elements that you love about that first show and stuff you haven’t seen before.”
Both versions of Gossip Girl are currently streaming on HBO Max.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.
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