Gossip Girl creator ‘regrets’ lack of gay storylines
The creator of Gossip Girl has confessed “regret” about the lack of LGBT representation on the show.
Teen drama Gossip Girl aired for 6 seasons between 2007 until 2012
The show, narrated by a mysterious gossip blogger, revolves around the fictional lives of upper-class adolescents living in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
In an interview with Vulture, exec producer Joshua Safran admitted “regrets” about the lack of LGBT characters on the show.
Safran said: “When I look back on Gossip Girl, the only things I regret were not as much representation for people of colour and gay story lines.
“Those are the two things I think we probably could have delved into more deeply, but other than that, I only regret things like not showing Chuck finger Blair and the dildos and other sexual stuff.”
The show did have some minor gay storylines, with Chuck Bass (played by Ed Westwick) kissing a man.
(Photo by Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)
Safran also addressed the show’s now-infamous cameo from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
The exec said: “With Jared and Ivanka, it would’ve been, ‘They’re on a list and they’re in town, reach out and see if they’re available’.
Shoe co-creator Josh Schwartz added: “People wanted to be on the show, it was a crazy thing We regret not having Jared Kushner speak when he was on the show.
“We could’ve had a recorded video of his voice!”
Although LGBT representation on TV has improved in recent years, LGBT people are largely invisible in big Hollywood films, according to a new report released by GLAAD.
The report showed that “only 23 out of 125 films tracked from 2016 contain LGBTQ+ characters”.
There was also a “notable drop in the percentage of LGBTQ characters of colour.”
GLAAD president and CEO Kate Ellis said: “With many of the most popular TV shows proudly including LGBTQ characters and stories, the time has come for the film industry to step up and show the full diversity of the world that movie audiences are living in today instead and end the outdated humour seen in many films.”
She added that “films like Moonlight prove there is a huge opportunity to not only tell LGBTQ stories worthy of Oscar gold, but to open the hearts and minds of audiences here and around the world in places where these stories can be a lifeline to the people who need it most.”
