Earlier today we saw photos of the cast of Gossip Girl that will be featured in the upcoming new issue of Rolling Stone magazine and right now we get to see a few photos from the NYC set of the show that were shot yesterday afternoon. A few members of the GG cast were photographed wearing graduation caps and gowns possibly for the season finale ep. Since the show takes place in high school and we already know that many of the characters have been accepted to their colleges of choice (well, except for Blair Waldorf), I don’t think these photos are particularly spoilerish:

Every teen drama that is set in high school has to go thru the graduation episode so, again, these photos should come as no surprise to anyone nor should they spoil the drama to come. It remains to be see exactly what kind of drama might unfold come graduation day. Blair is a wild card this season … could she end up ruining the day for everyone? We know that bad girl Georgina Sparks will be returning to the Upper East Side in the coming eps, does she have some surprises up her sleeve for the big day? Monday night’s ep of GG was really very fun, it’s great to have the show back on the air. I can’t wait to see more. What do YOU suppose might go down on graduation day that might possibly make the day a memorable one for the Gossip Girl gang?

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]

The young cast of The CW hit series Gossip Girl is featured in the pages of the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine. The cover, tho, features only the two main girls, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, which all the devilishly fun high school drama swirls around on the show. Here are a few photos of Blake and Leighton (who play Serena and Blair, respectively) that were shot by photographer Terry Richardson for the mag and a portion of the magazine’s coverstory:

It’s been a heart-wrenching month for fans of the CW Network’s sexily subversive drama Gossip Girl while TV’s hottest show took a brief hiatus. But now Blair, Serena, Chuck Bass and Co. are back — and on the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone. To get the dirt on what it’s like starring as beautiful young people in New York while being beautiful young people in New York, Jason Gay hung out with the cast on set and after hours, tagging along to their favorite drinking haunts — where the beverage of choice is the potent Golden Monkey — and catching the action as the show filmed on the streets of the Big Apple. “The outdoor sets were pretty fun, because the fans come out,” Gay says. “There were many kids from local private schools, foreign tourists and tons of paparazzi. It’s strange to to see a mob of paparazzi photograph Blake and Serena in character as they film an outdoor scene. It’s as if the reality of the show exists behind two lenses — in real time and TV time. All the actors enjoy the outside stuff because of the fans, too. It’s like playing on stage or something. More energy, more excitement and the sense that anything could happen. And sometimes it does. There is no such thing as a closed set in NYC!” Despite barely scraping together 3 million viewers a week, the show has become the most talked-about, culturally relevant series on television. “It’s not a conventional TV hit in terms of viewership. Its numbers are low and it loses to stuff like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a far more wholesome show that runs on cable,” Gay says. “But in terms of having a ‘moment,’ however you want to define it, GG definitely is having one. It will be very interesting to see if the show grows, or remains a clubby, small hit. Teen shows seldom have long runs — and I don’t get the feeling this will turn into ER. But it seems to be here to stay as long as the principals involved want to keep doing it.” Part of the show’s appeal is its authenticity. “The show is sharp and connected to modern life, references, music and so on. Gossip Girl doesn’t feel like something that got drummed up in some network focus group by 55-year-old white dudes,” Gay explains. “No one’s going to accuse Gossip Girl of being The Wire or Mad Men, but if you roll with the fantasy/absurdity, it’s fun to watch, from the infighting to the insane clothes and snappy dialogue.” Right now, the stars who bring those tart lines to life — Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford, Penn Badgley — somehow haven’t let fame go to their heads, according to Gay. “They’ve all reached the point where they’re in the public eye, but they’re not rolling around in blacked-out SUVs or being chased around like Madonna. A lot of them take the subway and they still complain about the price of rents and monthly car parking,” Gay reveals. “They’re in a nice place in their careers. They’re now recognizable enough to get interest for other things, but not so recognizable that daily life is a drag.” Though he’s now a Gossip guru, Gay admits, “I didn’t jump on the bandwagon immediately. But by the end of the first season, I was getting so annoyed with the fuss I had to check it out.” So what’s his favorite Gossip Girl moment? “The scene in the ‘Non-Judging Breakfast Club’ episode where Blair, Chuck and Nate rally behind Serena after she confesses about her wild night with Georgina. Nate and Blair then confess regrettable things they’ve done, and when Blair asks Chuck to contribute, he just says, ‘I’m Chuck Bass,’ ” Gay says. “It’s the kind of thing that if you watched the show for the first time, it would mean nothing to do you, but if you’re a fan, you’re dying. I think that’s one of the shrewder things about Gossip Girl — it does reward its loyal viewers.”

My, my … what suggestive photos. The second photo, of the girls sharing an ice cream cone, is the one that is used as the magazine’s coverphoto. But, the entire young cast of the series is featured in the mag. After the jump, check out a few more photos of Gossip Girl gang — Blake, Leighton, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Penn Badgley and Taylor Momsen — together in bed …

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Gossip Girl star Blake Lively is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Vogue magazine. In her interview, Blake talks at length about how fashion is featured in GG in a coverstory article that tries to explain how the series provides lavish escapism from the everyday doldrums of an economy in recession (while describing a scene that was filmed for an upcoming episode, the article confesses “The lens cropped the Upper East Side down to its most stately and prosperous lines, with no trace of the glaring RETAIL SPACE AVAILABLE signs and GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE posters one block away, signals that the worldwide recession is lapping at the edges of Manhattan’s most privileged ZIP codes.”) but doesn’t really offer any substantial new information. The photospread is pretty to die for, tho! Here is Blake’s very stunning coverphoto and a portion of the magazine’s coverstory:

In the world of Gossip Girl, there are few signs of economic hardship. Mostly, it’s a contest between the haves and have-mores: For example, the Humphrey clan—members include Serena’s on-and-off boyfriend Dan (Penn Badgley), his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen), and their hipster dad, Rufus (Matthew Settle)—lives in the artsy, waterfront area of Brooklyn that’s one part Williamsburg, one part DUMBO, and must find their way among families who divide their time among Park Avenue, the Hamptons, and Tuscany. After Lily’s latest husband, Bart, dies, the family learns that he “has more towers than Trump, more bucks than Bloomberg.” Thus far, the only character to suffer a serious reversal of fortune is Nate, played by Chace Crawford, who is forced to move in with the Humphreys when his father—a swindler and coke fiend—flees the country. In this New York, nothing as commonplace as bear markets can bring about financial ruin: It requires a dastardly character flaw. Gossip Girl was adapted from the best-selling young-adult fiction series by Cecily von Ziegesar, who was working as an editor at a book-packaging company when the idea floated up to create a more-contemporary line of fiction about private school kids in New York. Von Ziegesar, who had attended the Upper East Side girls’ academy Nightingale-Bamford and knew well the milieu, volunteered to take on the proposal. She invented the Constance Billard School for Girls, where Serena and her BFF and sometime-rival Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) hold court. “The characters came right away,” von Ziegesar says over lunch at Fred’s in Barneys, a crowded watering hole for the blonde, slim, and soignée, and where von Ziegesar, who is blonde, slim, and soignée, fits right in. “It flooded out of me; I always wanted to write, but I never thought I’d be writing for teenagers” … The show has taken many departures from the novels, especially in the second season, which has abandoned any lingering pretense of term papers or gym class in favor of a Dangerous Liaisons romance between Blair and the sulfurous Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), as well as what to wear for such an assignation. “The fashion is just unbelievable. You can watch our show on mute and be entertained,” Lively says. And she’s not overstating it. The characters wear designer clothes that teeter between unattainable chic and self-parody, be it Bass’s wearing a tuxedo covered with paillettes that shimmer like a matador’s suit or Blair’s attending the dean’s party at Yale with an Alice-in-Plunderland pewter-colored satin bow in her hair. For her part, Lively is entranced by Serena’s authentically local look. “Just being here, walking around, you pick it up really quickly,” she explains. “In New York, you put on skinny jeans and riding boots and a leather coat and handbag, and you take on that posture and character,” Lively says. “It becomes very natural.” Lively’s natural style? Costume National boots, dark Rag & Bone trousers, and a Joie cashmere vest over a Ports 1961 white pointelle cashmere sweater, punctuated by Chanel earrings, a Chanel handbag, and a Jeri Cohen diamond bracelet. (”They let me borrow it, and now I can’t take it off,” Lively says mischievously.)

The full interview can be read in the February issue of Vogue magazine (the truncated version is online HERE) but will prolly not offer anything all that new that we haven’t heard already. For me, the photos are the real draw. After the jump, check out a few photos from Blake’s Vogue magazine photospread …

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Various celebs made their way to The Plaza in NYC last night to attend an event to celebrate the Gucci launch of their new Tattoo Heart Collection — which is a limited edition collection of accessories that will benefit UNICEF’s campaign to aid children affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi. Here are a few pics from the event’s red carpet arrivals last night:

SMOKING-HOT songbird Rihanna teamed up with Gucci’s Frida Giannini last night at the brand’s Fifth Avenue store for the worldwide launch of the limited-edition Tattoo Heart Collection to benefit UNICEF. Twenty-five percent of sales from the handbags, shoes and accessories ($410-4,995) will benefit children affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi and Mozambique. Items will be on sale through Jan. 31.

Madonna was in the hiz last night for the Gucci event (despite the fact that she just signed on to be the new face of Louis Vuitton for ‘09) lookin’ pretty good … except for pretty much everything she was wearing. I mean, I love me some Madonna, but I think she’s wearing that Hawaiian grass skirt wrong. Rihanna, who is featured in the Gucci ads to promote the Tattoo Heart Collection, was lookin’ pretty fierce in her pretty dress. Blake Lively and Penn Badgley looked like they just showed up for the free eats. After the jump, check out three of Rihanna’s Tattoo Hearts Collection promo pics …

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Gossip Girl star Blake Lively is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of W magazine … and while some think that Blake looks patriotic on the cover, clutching the US flag, I think she looks more superhero-like … very Wonder Womanly. Here is Blake’s W cover, a few photos from her spread and a portion of her interview:

Blake Lively is a starving artist. “I’m hungry. You hungry? Let’s meet at Sant Ambroeus,” she says, by way of cell phone introduction. Within minutes she’s stepping out of a taxi, an endless stream of legs and golden hair. The pint-size ristorante in New York’s West Village is, on a Saturday afternoon, predictably packed with the type of diners who are too cool to freak out about the numero uno Gossip Girl but not so jaded that they don’t notice her. Over the course of the next hour and a half, only a mother and her trembling tween daughter openly fawn over Lively. Sure, a guy at the next table chats her up, but that’s only because he really, really needs to know if he should order the eggplant appetizer that the gorgeous 21-year-old is digging into with gusto … A tight-knit bunch, the Lively clan also includes a talent manager mom, two older sisters and two older brothers—all of whom are connected to the entertainment industry in some manner. “My mom and dad always taught acting, so instead of getting me babysitters, they would just bring me to class,” Lively recalls. “And I’m a naturally shy person, so it really helped. I would’ve just been hiding under the table, pulling on my mother’s dress if I hadn’t been in their classes. It forced me out of my shell.” And out she stayed—Lively is warm and ultrachatty, dispensing the type of cheerful anecdotes that make clear she leads a charmed existence.

The interview goes on from there (you can read it in full HERE). It’s a pretty standard interview that doesn’t really delve into anything even remotely resembling drama. When the question of whether or not she competes on set with Leighton Meester on the set of the GG she responds by saying, “I’ve never really had a competitive relationship in any work situation. The media is always trying to pit us against each other, I guess because it’s just not interesting to say, ‘Everyone gets along; everybody just works 18-hour days and goes home to sleep.’ That’s not fun to read, I guess.” Meh, she’s right. I think I’d prefer to hear that they pull each other’s hair out on a daily basis. Ah well. I do like the photos in this spread tho. They are deceptively simple (the flag is a nice touch) … but I quite like them a lot. I know that Beyoncé wants to be an African American Wonder Woman but I think that Blake makes a pretty good case for a Blonde Wonder Woman. What do y’all think … could she pull off that role?

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Okay … so Blake Lively was snapped filming a pretty interesting scene for an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl where her character Serena van der Woodsen is filming a kissing scene with a boy in Times Square … but it surely isn’t the boy you’re prolly thinking it is:

So as not to spoil this future ep any further, I’ll keep all speculation and conjecture behind the cut. After the jump, see a bunch of photos from the filming of this scene and find out who Blake/Serena is swappin’ spit with …

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The cast of Gossip Girl has been chosen to lead off Entertainment Weekly’s Fall TV Preview in this week’s issue but only Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester have been chosen to appear on the magazine cover … interesting, no? Here is the coverphoto for this week’s issue of EW magazine along with a few photos from inside the mag and portions of the coverstory:

Why would [The CW] remake itself in the image of a show that ranked 150th in the ratings last season? Because while GG lacks numbers, it continues, incredibly, to be flush with buzz. The cast’s Neutrogena-fresh visages grace countless magazine covers, and trend-happy kids are spending their disposable incomes to get that GG look. ”What Gossip Girl is doing today is kind of like what Sex and the City did for the way women dress,” says Ed Bucciarelli, president and CEO of Henri Bendel in New York. ”People come in saying ‘We want the headband that Blair was wearing on last week’s show.”’ One teen, he adds, even requested a Collette Dinnigan cocktail dress — worn by Meester in May’s season finale — for her prom. For The CW, that kind of pop culture influence could be a lifesaver. Industry watchers are rumbling that if the two-year-old network doesn’t perform better this season, it could face extinction. Can a Girl-friendly schedule save The CW? If the network folds, will that mean the end of Gossip Girl? And, most important, can Serena (Blake Lively) and Dan (Penn Badgley) really make things work? With so many questions swirling around the show, we set out to separate truth from gossip.

Say what?!? After the jump, check out the 4 Rumors (Will GG get canceled due to low ratings? Is the Jenny Humphrey character getting her own spin-off show? Do Blake Lively and Leighton Meester hate each other? Is GG going to amp up the sex in season 2 to try and drum up ratings?) about Gossip Girl that Entertainment Weekly takes to task and offers answers to some of the most burning questions about the show …

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