Why a Gossip Girl actor is afraid to watch the show during Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal dispute

The CW teen drama Gossip Girl won the hearts of young adults across the nation when it premiered in 2007.

The show made stars of its incredible cast, which featured Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Taylor Momsen, and Leighton Meester, with Blake Lively currently facing a legal dispute with Justin Baldoni.

Now, the 39-year-old Chace is admitting that he’s scared to sit down for a rewatch of the original Gossip Girl.

‘I haven’t really rewatched any of it,’ he told People. ‘I’d be terrified. It’s a bit embarrassing.’

During the promotion of his fashion line called American Dream Clubhouse, Chace Crawford confessed that he was anxious about revisiting the show as it might bring back negative memories of how he struggled with fame in the past.

‘When you are young, you tend to take yourself too seriously. You view everything as extremely important, and you aspire to emulate someone like Marlon Brando,’ Chace elaborated. ‘At a certain point, when you are part of a show that gains massive popularity, your sense of self and identity can become intertwined not only with the character you portray but also with the show itself.’

The CW teen drama Gossip Girl won the hearts of young adults across the nation when it premiered in 2007

Now, 39-year-old Chace Crawford is looking back at his time on the series and he has revealed why he’s scared to sit down for a re-watch; pictured in May

Crawford reflected about rising to fame, ‘Some actor quoted like, “Anyone who gets famous is an a**hole for two years in their own way.” It can affect people in a really weird way. And it probably made me a bit more paranoid at the time.’

The actor also acknowledged the continued cultural relevance of Gossip Girl, which spawned a short-lived reboot in 2021.

‘In a way it’s kind of become almost classic. It really was of its time, though. It was just before social media, a little bit ahead of its time in that regard. 

‘But in watching, it’s very campy. I forget how kind of campy it was. It’s kind of fun in that way,’ he told the outlet.

Chace explained, ‘It’s the music too. Before it aired, they gave me a copy of the pilot to my parents, and my mom and dad probably watched it 20 times. Those songs from the pilot are so ingrained.’

Asked what wisdom he would share with his younger self, the star said: ‘I would just kind of tell myself to have fun, relax, everything’s going to be OK, and it’s just not holding on too tightly to your career or what you want to do and just have fun with it because you can kind of take yourself [too] seriously.’

Crawford’s former Gossip Girl costar Blake Lively is currently wrapped up in a nasty court battle with her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni.

The two butted heads while filming the romantic drama last year, and things turned litigious in December when the actress sued the actor for alleged sexual harassment and engineering a retaliatory smear campaign.

Gossip Girl made stars out of its stunning cast, which included (L-R) Ed Westwick, Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, and Chace

Crawford’s former Gossip Girl costar Blake is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Justin Baldoni; pictured in April in NYC

Lively and Baldoni butted heads while filming It Ends With Us (pictured) last year, and things turned litigious in December when the actress sued him for sexual harassment

This week Lively suffered a setback in the case when a New York judge denied her attorneys’ application for a protective order seeking to block her text messages with Taylor Swift from being entered as evidence.

Baldoni’s team has subpoenaed Lively for text messages, emails and any other messages between herself and the singer.

The Jane The Virgin actor’s lawyers will now be allowed to pore through the text trail, with all communications related to It Ends With Us set for scrutiny. 

Last December, Blake outlined work opportunities that she allegedly missed due to Baldoni in her explosive lawsuit against him. 

One of the missed work gigs listed was hosting the season 50 premiere of Saturday Night Live in September, which aired the month after the film was released.

‘The effects on Ms. Lively’s professional life were immediate and substantial,’ said the suit.

‘Given the ongoing nature of the campaign and the associated negative public sentiment, Ms. Lively did not believe she could proceed with public appearances or events without being forced to openly discuss what happened on set,’ the filing stated.