Gossip Girl has been silenced at HBO Max.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned platform has canceled its Gossip Girl revival after two seasons, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The news comes the same day that the penultimate episode of season two was released. The now-series finale, titled “I Am Gossip,” will debut Jan. 26 as sources say the second season was designed with some finality.
“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,” showrunner Josh Safran said in a statement to THR, which he also posted on social media. “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”
HBO Max said in a statement Thursday, “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.”
Schwartz and Savage, who created the original CW series, developed the update alongside former writer Safran, who was tapped by the duo to serve as showrunner on the new incarnation that featured an updated-for-today premise and cast of fresh faces (along with a couple returning favorites).
Season one launched in July 2021 with what HBO Max said was its best debut for a Max original at the time. The series was renewed halfway through its freshman season. (HBO Max, like other streamers, does not release traditional viewership data.)
HBO Max, under WBD CEO David Zaslav, has been in cost-cutting mode as the merged company looks to find billions of dollars in savings. To that end, Max has canceled a slew of scripted originals, reversed course on a number of other programs (including Minx) and dropped scores of titles from its streaming platform.
Gossip Girl was one of a number of so-called “legacy” titles to stem from Warner Bros. Television that had been revived in a bid to bring large fan bases to streaming platforms. Others include Sex and the City update And Just Like That and Pretty Little Liars.
Source: Hollywood
