Taylor Momsen Says Warner Bros. Called Her Ungrateful for Leaving Gossip Girl Mid-Series

Taylor Momsen clashed with Warner Bros. executives when she tried to quit Gossip Girl during season four. They called her ungrateful because she wanted to chase her music dreams instead. The singer opened up about what happened on a recent podcast interview that dropped recently.

"It was a very long battle of me arguing with everyone and going, 'Get me outta this. I can't do this anymore. This is killing me,'" said Momsen to podcast host Alex Cooper. 

"I have something else I want to do with my life, and it has nothing to do with this, and I can't be stuck here anymore. ... I'm always looking forward, and I reflect on things to write about them and process them."

She played Jenny Humphrey on the CW series from 2007 to 2010. Momsen was just 13 when she filmed the pilot.

Studio bosses told her she was walking away from success. "I just went, ... 'You don't know what you're talking about. You're not in my shoes, so how dare you judge this?'" Momsen recalled. The head of Warner Bros. refused to release her from the contract. Momsen said that working with The Pretty Reckless after spending all day on set was exhausting, and by the end of season three, she knew she couldn't keep going.

Showrunners Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz agreed to write her character off, and Momsen said that she really credits them for that decision. Her castmates got no warning about her exit. They knew she was making music, but they didn't realize how serious she was. She stayed under contract and couldn't act in other projects, even after leaving. That situation worked in her favor since she wanted to focus on music anyway.

Momsen returned for the series finale in 2012, and The Pretty Reckless has released four albums since 2010. The band dropped a holiday EP titled Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas on October 31. They'll join AC/DC on tour starting on February 24.