I don’t know why this pairing makes me so happy. Probably because I was a big fan of The OC and I have a lot of affection for Adam Brody. If he can’t be with Rachel Bilson in real life, at least he can be with another gorgeous brunette whom I like. He’s with Leighton Meester! Leighton, the other Gossip Girl star who could have easily chased after fame, but who just seems content to play the game as needed but otherwise remain low-key. She’s always struck me as very likable, normal and mature for her years, and now she’s with Adam Brody! Here’s more:

It’s like a teenage dream come true! Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, both veterans of the teen drama genre, have been secretly dating for weeks, sources confirm to Us Weekly.

The actors, who costarred in 2011 dramedy The Oranges alongside Catherine Keener and Hugh Laurie, have been “hanging out,” the source tells Us.

“They were always close and friendly,” the insider added, noting that the pair would hang out on occasion during shooting for the film.

Brody, 33, first landed in the spotlight as lovable comic book geek Seth Cohen on the WB’s hit The O.C. back in the early 2000s. He was most recently linked to director Lorene Scafaria, who wrote
Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, back in 2010.

Gossip Girl actress Meester, meanwhile, previously dated actor Aaron Himelstein, though the 26-year-old parted ways with him over the holidays.

And even though she and Brody have been keeping their relationship out of the public eye, the new couple has already been making their rounds, traveling together to Bangkok earlier this year and taking in art exhibits at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Friday, Feb. 1.

[From US Weekly]

Sometimes I check out couples in my daily life, and I get kind of warm and fuzzy inside when they dress matchy or when you can see how alike they look. There’s a sympatico thing going on when you look at their faces and they could be brother and sister. I know that sounds weird, but look at Leighton and Adam in the photo on US Weekly’s site. They’re making the same expression and they look like they could be related! I think that’s sweet and not creepy, it’s hard to explain. Anyway I hope this lasts for them. I doubt either of their publicists leaked the news to US Weekly, either.

Header image credit: PRphotos. Other images credit: WENN.com

Leighton Meester covers the October issue of Cosmo UK – the cover shot is awful, but I like the rest of the photo shoot. I’ve always wanted Leighton to get more attention in general – I think she’s very pretty, and as for her acting talent… well, she’s no better or worse than Blake Lively. So why is it that Blake Lively is considered to be on the cusp of A-List (if not already A-List) while Leighton seems more like a B-list Also-Ran? Is it just a question of hustle? I don’t know. But I always like Leighton’s interviews more than Blake’s too – Leighton has had a hard life, and she comes across as a more world-weary young woman. Some highlights from the Cosmo piece:

On not wearing makeup: “I don’t care if there are a million pictures of me with no makeup. I love being able to walk down the street without it. We should promote women not having to wear makeup, or at least feel we can go out without it.”

On comparing her style to Blair Waldorf’s: “I’ve never seen Blair with the same bag, coat or shoes twice. I don’t know anyone who had that. I had two pairs of jeans [when I was a teenager] that I rotated. I wouldn’t trust myself with a Prada brag! I didn’t even want to change for gym so I’d wear sweatpants over my jeans, then sweat around the track for an hour.”

On being awkward around people: “If I’m not around close friends or family, I can get quiet and awkward, and it probably comes off as not very nice or just plain weird! It’s not meant to. I try to pull myself out of it but sometimes it’s hard for me to open up. In the past it was easier for me to trust people. Nowadays I judge pretty quickly: ‘You just want to be my friend because I’m on a TV show.’”

Body image: ‘I wish I was stronger and more flexible. But I can always say, “I’d love my body if my legs were thinner, I’d love my hair if it were thicker.” You can do things to change the way you look, but it’s good to just say, “I love myself in this moment.”… As soon as you stop getting pimples, you start getting wrinkles, so what’s there to be upset about?’

The end of Gossip Girl: ‘It’s good that we’re going out on a high note, but I’m ready to move on. It’ll probably be a challenge, for a time, to fight against that character – I won’t play an overprivileged girl any time soon! But I’ll never forget Gossip Girl.’

[From Cosmo UK via The Mail]

I love what she says about being seen without makeup. I’m a gossip blogger and everything, but I hate when I see sites picking on women for looking “awful” when the celebrity women are simply not wearing makeup in a casual setting. I mean, obviously, I think makeup application is an art, and if you’re walking on a red carpet, you should probably be wearing some makeup (concealer, foundation, powder, etc). But in a casual outing? Go without. It’s not the end of the world.

Photos from Cosmo UK, via The Mail.

Here’s kind of a final post for the Met Gala with some of the younger fashion ladies, all in lighter color dresses and all looking so pretty. I just couldn’t resist talking about them. It seems like with these big events, the more we look the more photos and celebrities we see that we want to cover. I’m especially taken with how lovely these younger girls look, and it gets me a little wistful for my youth. I know they’re all celebrities and are used to getting dressed up and dolled up, but it still must have been special for them.

First off is Dakota Fanning in a very pale lavender chiffon Louis Vuitton. Unlike poor Jessica Chastain, LV did right by Dakota. I love the structural elements of this dress along with the off the shoulder v-neck and fitted bodice. It’s very suitable for an 18 year-old girl and it looks young yet sophisticated. I like this look a lot, along with her simple styling. Check out the pretty matching flower brooches in her hair. They’re a nice touch.

Leighton Messter of Gossip Girl also went for a pale color. She’s in champagne color Marchesa, of course. I should have known this ice skater dress was Marchesa. It’s so ugly and the busy embroidered skirt is even partially see-through. Have you heard that Marchesa is going to be doing casual clothes now? I hope that never comes to fruition. Meester is a lovely thing, but this dress makes her look too princessy and much younger than her 26 years. I don’t pay a lot of attention to Leighton and I honestly assumed she was about 22. A lack of makeup is also making her look like a teenager. Also, Leighton reminds me that Blake Lively wasn’t there! She was probably too busy feathering her nest with Ryan Reynolds upstate.

Camille Belle is the star of this group for me. She’s a knockout in silver beaded Ralph Lauren with a deep v-neck. I love the contemporary look of the transparent netting holding up the dress. The flapper style of her hair and makeup compliment the look perfectly. Her makeup is a little severe, but that’s a very minor complaint. Look at the back of that dress, it’s amazing. Like Leighton, Camille is in her mid 20s at 25. I assumed she was younger since I remember her dating one of the Jonas Brothers. Those kids have grown up too.

And finally here’s Lily Collins, 23, in tulle and lace Valentino couture. I find this dress very fussy with the lace on top of the flowery underlay and the frou frou bow at the waist, but somehow it works on Lily. Maybe I’m just feeling generous today. On another woman I might really dislike it, but I think she’s working it well. Look at how it’s kind of flowing away from her in this pose.

Photo credit: WENN and Pacific Coast News

I always thought that Leighton Meester could be Rachel McAdams’ sister. And then I thought she looked just like Minka Kelly. And nowadays, with her current bangs situation, doesn’t she look like Rose Byrne? Anyway, Leighton covers the new issue of Marie Claire… for some reason. Gossip Girl, maybe. I like Leighton a great deal – I think she’s very pretty and out of the Gossip Girl cast, she’s the better actress. But she doesn’t even get a fraction of the attention Blake Lively gets. Why is that? Is it because Blake’s hustle is just so magnificent, or is it because Leighton’s hustle is barely there? I don’t know. You can read the full Marie Claire piece here, and here are some highlights:

She’s not good at bowling: “I never played sports. I wasn’t any good at them.”

She wasn’t born in jail: Meester’s mother, Constance, gave birth to her while serving federal prison time for drug trafficking. Meester was not, she has oft clarified, born in jail. She was delivered in a hospital, then transferred to a halfway house for three months, after which she was sent to live with her grandmother until Constance’s release. Her father, Doug, also served time for drug-related offenses. He and Constance would later divorce.

Leighton on her family: “My family has a crazy history,” she acknowledges. “Probably the craziest I’ve heard of.” But it was not, she is quick to point out, Dickensian in its misery. “I look back now and I see it in a nice light,” Meester says of her youth in Marco Island, Florida. “It wasn’t uncomplicated. But I played outside. I went to the beach. There were happy, fun times.”

She doesn‘t believe in self-pity: “You can take what is handed to you and use it as an excuse to mess up. But I’ve always handled what was given to me by life. I consider myself lucky. I was never lied to. And I was loved.”

Taking adult acting classes as a kid: “I couldn’t relate to kid stuff. ‘Jimmy doesn’t like me!’ Who cares? I was worried we didn’t have gas money or food. Those were my concerns.”

Suffering: “When you see how you react when you suffer,” she explains, “that’s when you know what you are made of.”

On boyfriends: “I never had a boyfriend until I was 18. It’s nice, I guess — when you like them. But it isn’t the most important thing.”

She doesn’t care about marriage: “I’m not sure I ever want to get married,” the 25-year-old adds. “The only time a relationship is good is when you really love them. I don’t want to hang out with some guy I just like.”

[From Marie Claire]

Alright, I take it back – she has hustle. She has a really strong work ethic and a great perspective on her life and the business she’s in. So why does Blake Lively get all of the attention? Maybe Leighton makes that same mistake that so many people with awesome work ethics make: she thinks she’s being judged solely on her work and her attitude. She’s not. At least not in Hollywood.

Still, I really like this girl. I just wish she would lose the bangs.

Photos courtesy of Marie Claire.

More photos from last night’s amFAR gala in New York City. We’ve already covered Lindsay Lohan’s crack-monster face and all of the ladies in (busted) Roberto Cavalli. To start this post, let’s talk about how awful Sarah Jessica Parker looks and how she thinks she’s still Carrie Bradshaw. This is the kind of outfit that Carrie Bradshaw would try to pull off (and end up looking like a four-year-old on a sugar high). On SJP, it just looks dated and confused. The pink dress is Oscar de la Renta, and she paired it with an Oliver Theyskens leather jacket, which does not work. And then she did glove-lets too. Awful.

Leighton Meester in Louis Vuitton. Love the little cocktail dress – it’s great on someone so young and so pretty. The fur panels are… odd. But they kind of work, right? I’m not loving her hair, though.

Here’s Rose Byrne in Alexander McQueen. I like the dress a lot, but I dislike the way Rose is styled. It’s not even just my knee-jerk hatred of bangs – this hair style in TOTAL does awful things to a beautiful woman.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Charlize Theron and Leighton Meester were the two big celebrity “gets” at last night’s “HTC Serves Up NYC Product Launch” event. Charlize looks really weird to me, but I think I’m just being thrown off by the full skirt and the lack of high heels. Allegedly, the green dress is Chloe… and I don’t like it much. Charlize is famous for her amazing legs, so why is she wearing a full-skirted dress that makes her legs look like little toothpicks? The cut and the style is not flattering. That being said, I love the color on her.

Meanwhile, Leighton wore Leighton wore a dress from the Marios Schwab Resort 2012 Collection and Burberry shoes. Um… the outfit is fine, it’s kind of boring, but meh. BUT THE SHOES. Dear God. Those look like some 1970s craft project, all wood beads and bad colors. And don’t get me started on the bangs.

Getting back to Charlize for a moment – have you seen her latest Dior commercial? It’s the one where Dior puts Charlize in the same company as Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly. WTF?

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.

Leighton Meester has already made headlines this week for suing her mom for blowing her money (that Leighton provided to take care of her younger brother) on botox and weaves. As far as her social life goes, however, we rarely hear anything other than the occasional rubfest with Garrett Hedlund, which hasn’t happened since last fall. Now it seems that Leighton has a new man in her life; that is, Drew Barrymore’s ex, Justin Long:

The romance between Leighton Meester and “Mac guy” Justin Long is heating up. The pair are currently in the city, where Meester is filming “Gossip Girl.” A source told us, “Justin has a place on the Lower East Side, and they have been spending a lot of time together.” In May, the pair were spotted sharing a romantic dinner in LA before leaving restaurant La Poubelle holding hands. Long split with Drew Barrymore last year. Meester played Long’s girlfriend who leaves him at the beginning of the 2010 movie “Going the Distance.” Their reps didn’t get back to us.

[From Page Six]

Well, this came out of left field, but these two would probably make a very cute and sufficiently well-matched couple. As for Long, he hasn’t been seriously linked to anyone since the on-off thing with Drew finally ended last year, and although there was one incidence of a ScarJo sighting, the two were quick to deny any romantic involvement. Justin seems like a loyal and nice enough guy though, so I hope that this is true for Leighton’s sake as well. Especially if she loves receiving oral sex, you know?

Photos courtesy of Fame

Leighton Meester’s past has always been rather sketchy, through no fault of her own. Her mom was a drug-runner who served time in a federal prison in Texas, and Leighton was born in a half-way house and she spent the first years of her life being taken care of by relatives while her mother completed her prison sentence. It’s a wonder Leighton turned out to be a successful and seemingly well-adjusted, talented, and relatively sane individual. Leighton is so successful, in fact, that she’s been sending money to her mom for years as a way to help support her sick little brother. Unfortunately, Leighton’s mom spent all of the money on plastic surgery, Botox and weaves instead of taking Leighton’s little bro to the doctor. So now Leighton is suing her mom! Good for her.

“Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester is suing her mother, claiming her mom diverted money Leighton sent to her little brother and used it for plastic surgery, Botox and hair extensions.

According to the suit … obtained by TMZ … Leighton’s mom refused to work, but Leighton felt badly for her younger brother Lex, who has severe medical issues. So Leighton sent her mom $7,500 a month so she could provide for Lex.

But the suit claims the mother, Constance Meester, used the money for cosmetic procedures and other personal expenses.

According to the suit, Constance even tried to convince Leighton … they had an oral contract requiring Leighton to pay her $10,000 a month for life. Leighton says it’s a total lie.

Leighton claims her mom threatened to file a $3 million lawsuit against her unless Leighton started coughing up the dough. Leighton wants the judge to declare there’s no contract between her and her mom.

[From TMZ]

This is why I’ve always had more affection for Leighton than for Blake Lively. Leighton is hardcore. Leighton will sue the crap out of her own mother. Plus, Leighton is such a good girl at heart that she wants to make sure that her sick little brother is taken care of. Perhaps Lex could move in with Leighton for a time? Obviously, Constance doesn’t give a crap.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.

These are new photos of Leighton Meester in NYC, promoting that horrible-looking Selena Gomez movie, Monte Carlo. Leighton is working a new look – she gave herself bangs trauma. Do we need to have the same old fight about this? All too often, the girls who suddenly appear with a new set of bangs (trauma) are the ones who do NOT need it. Take Leighton – her face is lovely. Beautiful little dimples, sparkling eyes, great smile… she’s the poster child for “adorable”. Beyond that, her hair was already great – thick, with a natural curl or some kind of natural body working in there. So why ruin it all with bangs trauma? Does she think that she’s just so cute, she can pull off any look, any hairstyle? Very few women are that cute.

Now that I’ve ranted, I have to take part of it back. Although I almost always hate bangs (yes, I hate the HAIR not the PERSON), Leighton doesn’t look hideous with bangs. She simply looked much cuter without them. Hopefully, they’re those clip-on deals that everybody is doing this year.

In other Leighton news, did you know that she and Garrett Hedlund are still maybe-kinda happening? Us Weekly’s print edition had a story about them this week - they claimed that Garrett and Leighton, who starred together in Country Strong, were spotted “making out” at the Sunset Marquis. Unfortunately for Garrett (who is hot, sort of), Leighton also might be dating Justin Long…? She was overheard telling a friend about Long, so God knows. There were first reports about Garrett and Leighton back in January, when they were rubbing on each other at some Golden Globes party. Every so often, someone will report that they’re still going at it, but either they key it very, very DL, or it’s just a casual thing where they hookup once a month or something. Plus, I kind of feel like Garrett is trying to get on Kristen Stewart. And K-Stew might be willing.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.

Stories about diva discord have plagued Gossip Girl for the three years the show has been on the air. Just last year, the Enquirer had a story about Blake Lively and Leighton Meester trying to one-up each other on set and off, especially when it came to fashion, career and media. Now In Touch Weekly has another variation – their sources claim that Leighton is the good girl, the professional who simply likes having a job, while Blake is the diva who fancies herself a major star, to the point where she thinks she’s too good for Gossip Girl:

The tension between Gossip Girl beauties Blake Lively and Leighton Meester is going into overdrive, according to a setsider, who says the acresses are complete opposites.

“Blake is a huge diva! She sees herself as the star of the show,” says an insider. “Leighton is pretty low-key.”

According to another insider, the two women “totally avoid each other between takes. Blake’s been getting a lot of attention this year – she’s done a movie with Ben Affleck and another with Ryan Reynolds…she’s talking about leaving the show, and Leighton and other are really fed up.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

Since I don’t watch Gossip Girl, I’m not going to make a judgment call on who and who is not the star of that show. It was my understanding that while Blake might get top billing over Leighton, Leighton has more of a fan-base. And while Blake might get to say “I worked with and under Ben Affleck,” Leighton is no slouch either. Her starring role (with Minka Kelly) in The Roommate just came in number one at the box office last weekend. While The Roommate got awful reviews (just as Country Strong did, which Leighton also had a part in), having a number one movie will be good for Leighton’s career. So the next time Blake rolls her eyes and says “God, I wish I was on a set with Ben Affleck right now…” Leighton should be all “Yeah, I wish you were too. STFU or GTFO, Bolt-Ons.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.