The bisexual actress plays lesbian character Monet de Haan in the HBO Max reboot.
Mey RudeGossip Girl is here to give us our newest iconic lesbian character.
In the latest episode of the HBO Max reboot of the classic teen drama series, Monet de Haan, one of the school’s resident mean girls played by bisexual actress Savannah Smith, kissed a girl in a bar. Now, we know that it wasn’t just a one-time thing, and instead, the character is sapphic.
On Twitter, Smith confirmed that yes, Monet is a lesbian. "So yea, she’s into girls," she tweeted. "And only girls." Two tweets and eight words, and we have a new lesbian icon. It’s as simple as that!
According to an interview with Them, making the character a lesbian wasn’t always the plan. It wasn’t until showrunner Joshua Safran saw Smith openly posting about her bisexuality on social media.
"I saw Savannah being authentic and living her life," he recalled to Them, "So I said to her, 'Savannah, would you feel comfortable if Monet was a lesbian?' And she was like, 'Absolutely, sign me up.'"
Monet is just one of several queer characters on the show. Before it even premiered, Safran said that one of the changes he wanted to make between his show and the original was to add more diversity. "There was not a lot of representation the first time around on the show," he said, adding that, "I was the only gay writer I think the entire time I was there."
Because of that, he wanted to make sure that the show featured a diverse cast that looked like teens living in New York City. "So this time around the leads are nonwhite. There’s a lot of queer content on this show," he said. And now, he’s delivered.
Gossip Girl is now streaming on HBO Max, and has new episodes premiering weekly.
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0Gossip Girl Star Savannah Smith's Character Is Our New Lesbian Icon
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