The Trailer for the Inclusive, Queer Gossip Girl Reboot Is Here XOXO
Gossip Girl was a show that would prove formative for a certain segment of younger millennials. As we grew up in the age of always-on technology and having our thoughts and pictures displayed for the world to see, teenagers of the 2000s had a unique upbringing that changed how we functioned and interacted with the world. Nothing quite captured the zeitgeist of the time—and blew it up into a campy extravaganza—like Gossip Girl. When Serena Van Der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf came in, all hell broke loose.
In 2007, viewers were thrust into the high drama of New York City’s posh Upper East Side. There we met a group of teenagers who attended St. Jude’s School for Boys and Constance Billard School for Girls, respectively. Throughout the series, the unseen character known as Gossip Girl would stalk the students, reveal their dirty little secrets, and basically make their lives a living hell. Gossip Girl was voiced by Kristen Bell and her delicious delivery added much to the show. Thankfully, Bell is also returning to the reboot, because it’s impossible to imagine anyone else speaking those “XOXOs.”
The buzzy series was the platform that launched the careers of many young stars, including Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgely, Chace Crawford, Sebastian Stan, and many more. And while many fans still like to make jokes about the fact that (spoiler alert) Dam Humphrey, the “outsider” kid from Brooklyn turned out to be Gossip Girl, it seems Dan has passed on his legacy at last.
That legacy is gossiping loud and clear in the new reboot series for Gossip Girl on HBO. In the first trailer for the show, we see a group of the UES’s uber-elite welcome in a new girl named Zoya Lott (played by Whitney Peak) to their friend circle. And they apparently “rule the school” by having been best friends throughout their entire life and no doubt having access to parental fortunes in the millions and billions. But as is the way with all Gossip Girl stories, their happy little friendship isn’t all it is cracked up to be, and they’re confronted with the cracks in their relationships as well as the addition of Zoya.
If we must have more Gossip Girl, this appears to be the Gossip Girl we need in 2021. The inclusive cast here is a revelation to see, as is the fact that the show will also be exploring queer identities and relationships. 2021 is a very different universe than pre-recession 2007, and it would also be excellent if this Gossip Girl deals more with the social and political ramifications of America’s vast wealth disparities. Whether it will do so is unclear, but the show having a home on HBO suggests we’ll be seeing a more mature and audacious look into the lives of the privileged elite.
The rest of the main cast of characters includes Akeno “Aki” Menzies (Evan Mock), Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson), Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind), Max Wolfe (Thomas Doherty), Otto “Obie” Bergmann IV (Eli Brown), Luna La (Zion Moreno), Monet de Haan (Savannah Smith), and Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander). The original show featured an almost all-white cast and had almost zero queer representation. At least the trailer, and promises from the show’s creator Joshua Safran, would indicate that they’ve finally moved forward.
“It’s a new take on it, a different time. It’s not a reboot, it’s a continuation, so we have an entirely new story and I think that’s really important,” actor Emily Alyn Lind said during an interview with Dazed about the series, which makes sense given the principal’s reaction to hearing that Gossip Girl is back.
The anonymous presence destroyed friendships and couples the first time around and it seems as if “she” is back to her same antics with this new group of students. Getting to see their reaction to her and experiencing this new era, where we are assured much better representation, is going to be such a wonderful time for fans of the original series, as well as new fans coming into this HBO show. I can already tell that I’m going to love Zoya but then again, I did love Dan Humphrey, and look where that got me.
(image: HBO)
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The ‘only girl at a Hackathon’ gets asked out in a Post-it note—then all hell breaks loose
By Rebecca Leib
3:00 PM 2025 on January 20, 2025
A Post-it note handed to “the only girl at a Hackathon” has sparked an internet-wide debate about gender dynamics in tech spaces and public shaming when it comes to dating. The note, shared by @ronawang on X, was a lighthearted attempt at romance but quickly became a viral flashpoint, amassing over 61 million views and igniting discourse—and memes—around dating etiquette.
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On Jan. 16, 2025, @ronawang posted a photo on X of a Post-it note. On the note was a handwritten message that said, “hey! I think you’re really cute…and I love those two braids in the back of your hair. Let me take you out sometime…I’d love a lesson from you on how to hack. LOL. Text me.” Wang captioned the photo, “my friend was the only girl at a hackathon & somebody gave her this note 💀”
The post garnered 61.2 million views and 17 thousand likes, with over four thousand comments including, “tbh some of the coolest couples I know met through these types of environments,” and “bro should have written this note in binary.”
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While some of the popular reactions to the posts were light, humorous, and positive, others were critical of Wang’s reaction, believing she was making fun of someone genuinely trying to connect.
““if you try to politely flirt in america, they publicly shame you in front of millions of people,” wrote @uncledoomer in a viral quote-retweet of the Post-it.
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Still others took offense to the posting of the Post-it and its story, calling into question its validity and casting criticism on Wang’s background.
“lol wasn’t your unpublished book about a love story at a hackathon,” wrote @paularambles above a screenshot of a book deal announcing Wang had signed with Simon Pulse — the young adult fiction arm of Simon & Schuster — for a novel called You Had Me at Hello World (which currently sits at a 2.55-star rating on GoodReads among plagiarism accusations.)
Rather than blasting someone for seeking romantic connection, @gosuprime022 suggested Wang had “misplaced priorities” and should instead be hunting for a job.
“Maam I’m sure it’s fun for you to have some laughs at the expense of a guy pouring his heart out in a post-it note, although that seems cruel, I’m afraid that won’t solve your unemployment problem,” they wrote, above a screenshot of Wang’s bio, the words “please hire me” highlighted.
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‘I was the only girl at a hackathon and someone gave me this note’ becomes a copypasta meme
As days went on, Wang’s post inspired more humorous and cultural commentary around interpersonal romantic relationships — as well as a copypasta shared above parody images of the original Post-it.
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More than light humor, however, the post created a climate of criticism around Wang’s reasons for posting the note — and backlash to the backlash.
“Everyone pissed off at that hackathon post it note,” wrote @thdxr. “was i the only one who read it as them just sharing something interesting that happened – thought she was like “haha so crazy” but everyone saying it was shaming.”
@bbatts523 came to Wang and her friend’s defense, writing, “I think there’s a massive issue in male dominated spaces that women can’t enter without being seen as a shiny Pokémon waiting to be captured.”
The post spurred heated discourse around the etiquette of asking someone out, and the perceived public shaming surrounding these acts of vulnerability.
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“Posting men’s earnest attempts at respectfully approaching women for online ridicule is not helpful in addressing the oft-cited complaint that men no longer approach women,” wrote @vocalcry.
@FeralPHunter agreed: “As a young man i had an intense fear that any attempts i made to approach a woman would be used as a source of ridicule and while im glad that fear is long gone i feel for young men in this current environment,” he wrote.
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‘Everyone is watching, because I am a woman’
The virality of the post highlights topical questions in both romantic interactions and women in tech. According to a Quora post by an engineer who attended and won six Hackathons, women are under microscopes in these predominantly male contexts. “Everyone is watching, because I am a woman,” the post detailed.
For a multitude of reasons, gender equity in tech is an important and ongoing need. Navigating the gender dynamics within these fields is still a complicated task, one fraught with exclusion and performance pressure.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @ronawang via direct message on TikTok. The creator did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
