‘Gossip Girl’ reboot cancelled after two seasons at HBO Max

A still from ‘Gossip Girl’
| Photo Credit: HBO

HBO Max has cancelled the Gossip Girl reboot show after two seasons, just days before the premiere of the final episode of the second season on January 26.

Like the original show, which was developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the new reboot series was also based on the book by Cecily von Ziegesar and was developed by Joshua Safran.

Set eight years after the parent series, the reboot follows a new generation of New York school teens who get to know about the social surveillance of the Gossip Girl site. It stars Jordan Alexander, Julien Calloway, Whitney Peak, Thomas Doherty, Evan Mock, Eli Brown, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Zion Moreno, Elizabeth Lali, and Savannah Lee Smith, among others.

The new show premiered in July 2021 in a grand fashion, becoming HBO Max’s most-watched opening weekend for an original series. It was renewed for a second season in November of that year. However, the initial interest aside, the show couldn’t hold the attention of the viewers.

“We are very grateful to showrunner/executive producer Joshua Safran, and executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for bringing us back to the Upper East Side and all the scandals at Constance Billard,” HBO Max said in a statement to Deadline. “Although we are not moving forward with a third season of Gossip Girl, we thank them for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience.”

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce Gossip Girl will not be continuing on HBO Max,” Safran said in a message to fans on Thursday morning. “Thank you for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo”

Safran, however, alluded that this may not be the end for the Gossip Girl franchise. “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,” he wrote.