Spotted: Gossip Girl alum Taylor Momsen enjoying her 29th birthday on July 26. And what better gift can we give the actress formerly known as Little J than an update on the rest of the cast of the OG CW series?
After its premiere in September 2007, Gossip Girl quickly became a pop culture phenomenon, influencing style (didn't it seem like every girl suddenly was wearing headbands and colorful tights?), vernacular ("OMFG!") and, of course, making major stars out of its young cast.
GG's OG crew—Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Jessica Szohr—became big effin' deals, with Sebastian Stan and Hilary Duff eventually hitting the Upper East Side to join in on the fun over the show's six-season run.
And now, the next generation of Upper East Siders has hit HBO Max, with the streaming service gearing up for a second season to its hit reboot. So what better time to check in with the original series' stars?
So, here's what the Gossip Girl cast is up to now...
The actress, who portrayed It Girl Serena van der Woodsen, has been keeping very busy since the end of Gossip Girl. A few months prior to the 2012 finale, Lively tied the knot with actor Ryan Reynolds and they're now the proud parents to four kids: daughters James, Inez and Betty and a baby born in 2023, whose name and sex has not been revealed. In recent years, she's starred in hit movies The Age of Adaline, The Shallows, A Simple Favor and The Rhythm Section.
Lonely Boy no more! Badgley, who portrayed Dan Humphrey (who, spoiler alert, was ultimately revealed to be Gossip Girl), has been making headlines for his turn as stalker Joe Goldberg on the hit Netflix series You.
On a more personal note, Badgley is also a married man. The actor tied the knot with Domino Kirke, the sister of Girls actress Jemima Kirke, in Feb. 2017. They welcomed their first baby together in August 2020. Of course, fans of GG remember Badgley and Lively dated during the show's early run before splitting in 2010.
The actress, who portrayed Blair Waldorf, has been making a splash in the comedy world in recent years, starring in ABC's Single Parents.
Meester married actor Adam Brody (aka The O.C.'s Seth Cohen) and they're parents of a daughter named Arlo, born in 2015, and a son born in 2020, whose name has not been revealed.
For six seasons, viewers swooned over Crawford's character Nate Archibald. Since the 2012 finale, Crawford has starred in ABC's Blood & Oil, as well as films Eloise and All About Nina. Crawford now stars in the Amazon original series The Boys.
Westwick rose to fame as Chuck Bass and after hanging up his character's signature scarf, he went on to appear in 2013's Romeo & Juliet and star in 2015's short-lived ABC drama Wicked City. He also starred in the British TV series White Gold.
In the fall of 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department started an investigation into sexual assault allegations made by several women against Westwick, which he denied. In July 2018, the Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to prosecute Westwick after determining there wasn't enough evidence to file charges in two instances and a third accuser failed to cooperate with investigators.
Little J has come a long way since her days trying to snag a place in Blair's crew. Momsen was just 14 when she starred as Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl, though she left the show in 2010 as music was her ultimate passion from an early age. She went on to form and front her band The Pretty Reckless when she was 17. They have released four studio albums.
As for a potential return to acting? "I never say never anymore in life, especially now with all the curveballs the world is throwing everyone," she told E! in March at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards, her first red carpet in five years. "But no immediate plans."
Szohr burst onto the Hollywood scene with her breakout role as Vanessa Abrams in GG. Since that time, the actress has appeared in films The Internship, Ted 2 and Two Night Stand. She's also been on TV shows Kingdom, Shameless and The Orville.
She gave birth to daughter Bowie Ella with hockey pro fiancé Brad Richardson in January 2021.
Since the finale in 2012, the snarky narrator—who returned for the reboot—tied the knot with longtime love Dax Shepard, with whom she shares daughters Lincoln and Delta. In the acting world, the actress starred in Hulu's Veronica Mars revival and NBC's The Good Place. Bell also fronted the Bad Moms films and voices Anna in Disney's Frozen and Frozen 2.
Remember when Bucky Barnes was on was on Gossip Girl? That's right, the actor appeared in 11 episodes of the CW series as bad boy Carter Baizen from 2007 to 2010 and dated Leighton Meester during that time.
Since his time on the show, Stan has become a household name thanks to his role as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Captain America and Avengers films. He recently starred on Disney+'s The Falcon and Winter Soldier opposite Anthony Mackie and in Hulu's Pam & Tommy.
It's hard to believe it's been a decade since Duff made a guest appearance on GG. In her six-episode arc, she appeared as Hollywood star Olivia Burke, who sparked a romance with Dan while at NYU and infamously engaged in a threesome with the not-so-Lonely Boy and his BFF Vanessa.
Since then, Duff starred in her own hit TV series, Younger and, more recently, How I Met Your Father. She was about to step back into Lizzie McGuire's platform sandals for a Disney+ revival, but it didn't work out due to differing creative visions.
In 2019, the "So Yesterday" singer married musician Matthew Koma, and they share daughters Banks and Mae, who the couple welcomed in March 2021. She's also mom to son Luca from her relationship with Mike Comrie.
Gossip Girl is streaming on HBO Max.
A version of this story was first published on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 3 a.m. PT.