In tragic news for Upper East Siders and fans alike, the Gossip Girl spinoff series has been cancelled at HBO Max after two seasons.
Creator Josh Safran announced the news on Jan. 19, tweeting, “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. 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.”
The news comes ahead of Gossip Girl's season 2 finale, a season that brought back many aspects from the original show that fans loved after a first season that got a bit bogged down in character and scene setting. Still, as Variety notes, season 1 was praised by the network for “record viewership over its first weekend on the platform.”
The sequel show is set once more at fictional NYC private school Constance Billard, with a new queen bee in Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander) — though season 2 saw Monet de Haan (Savannah Lee Smith) make a bid for the crown. Cast include Whitney Peak as Zoya, Emily Alyn Lind as Audrey, Thomas Doherty as Max, Evan Mock as Aki, Zión Moreno as Luna, Eli Brown as Otto, Grace Duah as Shan, Tavi Gevinson as teacher Kate Keller, and more.
Safran talked to Teen Vogue before season 2 came out about his vision for the spinoff and its relation to the original show. “You make a choice about whether or not you're going to try to do a version that feels very familiar or if you're going to try to do a version that has familiar elements but it's standing on its own, and we just decided to do that latter version,” he said at the time. "I was prepared for people to, up top, be like, “'This isn't the original, where are Blair and Chuck, who are these people,' and come around to it slowly, and they did. I knew that over time people would come to see it as its own thing, which they did, and I'm very grateful for that.”
Safran tweeted that all might not be lost for the revival of New York City's young elite, if Gossip Girl can find another streaming service or network — Netflix, Hulu, Tubi, are you listening?
“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,” continued Safran, who wrote and produced the original series alongside OG creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. “Thank you for watching, and I hope you'll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo ps. a big thank you to all the GG fans around the world. You’re the reason we came back in the first place, and who knows, maybe the reason we will meet again. Much love.”
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Meanwhile, the show's cast have begun sharing their tributes to the show. Jordan Alexander shared the news with a straightforward, “XOXO.” Grace Duah thanked the fans of the show on Instagram, writing, “My life will never be the same. Until we meet again <3 … let's go out with a bang."