Penn Badgley, who played the on-screen gossip spreader Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl, revealed that it was Blake Lively who played the prankster in real life.
The You actor and the Serena van der Woodsen actress starred in the beloved CW series for six seasons from 2007 to 2012, where they portrayed on-and-off love interests. In real life, they dated for three years starting from the beginning of the show.
During their time together, Blake Lively pulled off an epic prank on Penn Badgley, leaving him to believe that rockstar Steven Tyler was his biological father.
Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast, Penn was asked about the greatest prank he had ever fallen victim to. Although he mentioned that he doesn’t particularly care for pranks, he did admit that he admires those who do them well.
Penn went on to reveal: “Somebody who may or may not be known for this — Blake Lively is, as I recall, very serious about pranks. She pulled a remarkable prank on me. It is crazy.”
He then recalled getting an email from his PR team, cautioning him: “There’s this press item that we’re trying to kill, but just so you know, somebody thinks or Steve Tyler thinks he’s your dad.” He added: “I don’t remember the phrasing but I remember being like… Didn’t even think about it for a moment because who in their right mind would think that that’s true.”
Though he didn’t believe it at first, his team of representatives played the part, and insisted not only that the story wasn’t “going away,” but that the Aerosmith legend was insistent that he was in fact his long lost child.
Penn continued: “At this point, of course I don’t think it’s true but it’s like, ‘How can Steven Tyler believe this? There’s no way! You have to be kidding. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith thinks that I’m his illegitimate child?! What am I gonna do, talk to Steven Tyler? No, my publicist is gonna handle it because what else is gonna happen.”
Ever the mastermind, Blake got not just her then-boyfriend’s team in on it but his own mother as well. She suggested he call her to sort it out, and Penn further recounted: “My mom is so not an actress, so not a prankster either, and she’s upset,” adding: “I’m like, ‘Mom why are you upset?!’ And then she takes a pause, that is like, the pause that sold me, and she goes, ‘Why do you think we moved out of Maryland?'”
It was then that he started fully believing the conspiracy. “I was speechless and my world was rearranging,” he said, and even admitted he began wondering whether he should then pursue a career in music, following in the footsteps of his supposed rockstar father. “I’d always wanted to play music,” he noted, though he shared: “I didn’t want to exploit the man, I definitely didn’t want to do that.”
Despite his brief musings, eventually he came to his senses, as he realized the whole ordeal was a perfect lead up to April Fool’s Day, when the call with his mother took place.
Penn also noted: “Anyone who’s in my life and wants to pull a prank on me, go ahead and try, because I will never think about it. I guess I’m trusting, I guess it says something good about me, I just never think that somebody’s trying to pull a prank. So [Blake] had that going for her.”
