Can't say I didn't see this coming
Gossip Girl firebrand Taylor Momsen will continue to be a scarce presence on the CW soap during the second half of the season. Sources confirm that the increasingly volatile actress - who has appeared in a grand total of three episodes this fall despite being listed as a series regular - will begin an indefinite hiatus following next Monday's episode. Although reps for The CW and producer Warner Bros. declined to comment, sources confirm that Momsen's Jenny will be MIA for at least four episodes beginning with the show's midseason finale on Dec. 6. The news comes as the 17-year-old Pretty Reckless singer's off-screen antics continue to raise eyebrows.
Besides her barely-there wardrobe and expletive-laced tirades against peers such as Miley Cyrus, Momsen pissed off Project Runway's Tim Gunn who played mentor to 'Jenny" in an episode that aired last month. Gunn blasted Momsen for her lack of professionalism on the set. "What a diva," he told E! News. "She was pathetic, she couldn't remember her lines, and she didn't even have that many. I thought to myself, 'Why are we being held hostage by this brat?'
However, a Gossip insider maintains that the airtime for Momsen, an original cast member who has been on the show since the pilot, has been reduced for strictly creative reasons.
Taylor Momsen has been largely MIA this season on Gossip Girl. So when the Deadline story broke that she's being "sidelined," it only made sense. After all, how long can the CW support this girl's massive eyeliner addiction? And of course, there are those ever-growing rumors of diva-ish behavior. (We even heard it from Tim Gunn!)
So this may surprise you, but according to multiple sources connected to the series:
Taylor "isn't going anywhere" and the behavior issues are "nothing new."
Like the other original Gossip castmembers, Taylor is contracted through season seven, and I'm told she'll remain a part of the series moving forward. We just won't see her in every episode.
Insiders say Taylor's absence (she's only appeared in three episodes so far this season) has been largely a creative decision-one that both the Gossip Girl higher-ups and Taylor seem satisfied with. "Jenny isn't in college like everyone else, so it's hard to weave her into the central storylines," says one source. "We don't want to just bring her in to hang out at the breakfast table with Lily and Rufus and say a line or two-we want a reason to have her there."
And I'm told Taylor is happy to have the time off to work on her music career-instead of hanging around all day on set for that line or two.
As for the diva rumors, sources tell me Taylor's behavior is nothing new-she's been, um, standing up for what she believes is right since season one. And yet it doesn't appear to have affected her relationships with fellow castmembers or the show's higher-ups. "Everyone likes her," says one source. "Her absence really is driven by the story. Anything else is speculative."
So far no comment from reps for Gossip Girl or Momsen.
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