Taylor Momsen has explained what led to her departure from Gossip Girl.
On the latest episode of Penn’s podcast, Podcrushed, the 30-year-old singer and former actress reunited with her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley for the first time since the show’s series finale in 2012.
During the episode, Taylor, who played Jenny Humphrey on the show, opened up about leaving the popular TV show to pursue her dream career in music.
“It was a childhood thing that I was put into when I was two years old,” Taylor told Penn, who played her on-screen brother Dan Humphrey, referring to her acting career. “I wasn’t making my own choices at the time.”
She went on to say, “Literally, as soon as I got to an age where I could make my own decisions, it was like it clicked…. I woke up one morning and said, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t have to do this? I don’t have to do this other job? I can just play in my band and tour and write songs? I can just do that? Granted, getting off a TV show is a little more complicated than that, but the answer was yes.
As a result of her realization, Taylor “uprooted and changed [her] life overnight,” with the help of the Gossip Girl team, who agreed to write her character off the show.
“They said, ‘Well, we can’t let you out of your contract, but we can write you out of the show so you can go on tour,'” she told Penn. “They really allowed me to follow my dream, and I’m forever grateful and thankful to them for that.”
Taylor’s character moved to London in the show’s fourth season to pursue her own dreams. She then made an appearance in the series finale, which featured a song by her band The Pretty Reckless.
