Leighton Meester: Racy Gossip Girl Ads Are ‘Smart’ and ‘Cool’

[Brian Damage]

Critics and parents may be seeing red over the latest round of racy Gossip Girl ads, but the show’s stars don’t mind at all.

“We just end up seeing it on a billboard somewhere,” Leighton Meester told Access Hollywood at the Teen Choice Awards Sunday. “But I think that it’s smart and it’s fine and it’s cool.”

The ad campaign, which launched last April when the show came back from hiatus, has continued into the summer with irreverent print ads featuring racy scenes from the coming season and negative critic reviews of the CW show — used to promote its drama.

“They’re very smart,” said Chace Crawford, who plays Nate Archibald on the show. “Everybody keeps saying they’re so racy, of course they’re racy, but you say they’re smart.”

Smart, maybe. Controversial, definitely. And the show has no plans to stop with its headline-grabbing antics, including some new rhetoric being introduced on the show.

“There’s a lot more [language],” Meester said. “I say Bass-hole, I say something else, but it’s all Chuck Bass-related.”

For his part, Ed Westwick, who won Favorite TV Villain at the awards for his naughty portrayal of Bass on the show, is a huge fan of the ad campaign.

“I love [the attention],” he said. I can’t get enough of it.” – Emmet Sullivan

http://tvwatch.people.com/2008/08/05...mart-and-cool/