It Ends With Us cast drama sparks new light on Blake Lively and Leighton Meester's old Gossip Girl tension

Amid reports detailing Blake Lively's tension with her It Ends with Us director and costar Justin Baldoni, Dailymail.com is taking a closer look at a past professional relationship the A-list actress had with her costar on Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester.

Lively, 36, and Meester, 38, headlined the CW series over its six-season run, 121-episode run from 2007-2012. 

The teen romance drama, which was created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, focused on a group of wealthy teens on New York City's Upper East Side, with a gossip blogger (Kristen Bell) narrating the proceedings.

Lively and Meester played the respective roles of Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf on the series, which also featured Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Kelly Rutherford.

'Blake and Leighton were not friends,' Joshua Safran told Vanity Fair in an August 2017 commemorating the anniversary of the show.

He compared the actresses to their respective characters, saying, 'They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair.'

The performers had very different personalities, Safran told the publication: '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, in contrast, had a 'very removed and very quiet' demeanor, and that 'after her scenes were done, she would wander the stage,' Safran said.

An April 2008 report from New York Magazine quoted sources that said Lively and Meester had a tendency to 'avoid each other like the plague' while filming the series.

The rivalry escalated to the point that other members at the case essentially had to 'choose sides' in the matter.

A publicist for Lively commented on the professional relationship, according to 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.'

Amid the recent headlines about Lively, a number of Twitter users referred back to the relationship between Lively and Meester.

'Watching all the Blake Lively drama while promoting "It ends With Us,"' said one user, 'makes me feel like we all owe Leighton Meester an apology…' 

One user asked, 'Why is everyone acting like Leighton Meester didn’t already tell us about Blake Lively years ago?'

Another said, 'Blake lively acts like she’s better than everyone she isn’t even a great actress she was outshined by a side character aka leighton meester in her show #gossipgirl.'

One user suggested, 'Real ones know Blake Lively has always been unlikable which is why she wasn’t friends with angel on earth Leighton Meester.'

Another user said that 'witnessing Blake Lively’s downfall has been delicious' and that 'the icing on the cake would be my girl leighton meester having her well deserved resurgence.'

Meester has steadily worked in both TV and film in the 12 years since Gossip Girl went off the air.

She has appeared in motion pictures such as 2023's EXmas, 2023's River Wild, 2022's The Weekend Away, 2014's Life Partners, 2014's The Judge and 2014's Mice and Men.

Among the TV roles she has had include on shows such as Single Parents, How I Met Your Father, The Orville and Making History.

Multiple users said in social media posts that Meester is more worthy of professional success than Lively, whose career is soaring amid her starring role in It Ends With Us and cameo in her spouse Ryan Reynolds' summer blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine.

Said one user: 'My Friday morning Ted Talk is that Leighton Meester is a far better actress with significantly better comedic skills and timing than Blake Lively, and she should be the more famous one. Thank you.'

Another said, 'It's funny how everyone says Leighton Meester deserved Blake Lively's success cuz Blake's acting career is honestly nothing to write home about.'

One user posted the popular 'Disaster Girl' meme, saying, 'leighton meester seeing the 2024 exposé of blake lively.'