'Gossip Girl' reboot will feature non-white leads, more queer content: writer Joshua Safran

Writer of original "Gossip Girl" and the upcoming reboot, Joshua Safran has revealed that the new show will star non-white leads and have more queer content. It was confirmed in July that the hit HBO show's creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage had locked a deal with the new streaming service HBO Max, seven years after the original series ended, for 10 one-hour episodes for a new generation of teen viewers.

''There was not a lot of representation the first time around on the show. I was the only gay writer I think the entire time I was there.Even when I went to private school in New York in the 90s, the school didn't necessarily reflect what was on 'Gossip Girl'. ''So, this time around the leads are non-white. There's a lot of queer content on this show. It is very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that. The thing I can't say is there is a twist, and that all relates to the twist," Safran said at Vulture Festival.

The original series, adapted from the books by Cecily von Ziegesar, ran from 2007 to 2012. It starred Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick.