Leighton Meester sues mother

‘Gossip Girl’ stars says her mother spent money intended for her sick younger brother.

ISLAMABAD:

These days you hear about all sorts of lawsuits coming out of tinsel town. But this one is enough to make even the most court-hardened veterans balk. In a move only worthy of her onscreen alter-persona Blair Waldorf (from the CW Network’s hit TV show, “Gossip Girl”), Leighton Meester is suing her own mother, turning against her very own flesh and blood.

It’s one of those real life moments when art imitates reality, when shows about cold-blooded Manhattanites start ringing with a chord of truth. Yet, despite her playing conniving Blair Waldorf for a show that quickly became a teen sensation, Meester may very well be justified for slapping her mother with a massive lawsuit.

According to celebrity gossip website Thirty Mile Zone (TMZ), Meester is suing her mother, Constance Meester, for allegedly pocketing funds sent over by the young star for her younger brother, Lex, who has severe medical issues. Meester has been sending her mother — who apparently refuses to work to earn her bread and butter — a whopping $7,500 a month to provide treatments for Lex.

However, the suit makes a grisly accusation. It claims Constance Meester has been using the funds provided by her daughter for cosmetic procedures, hair extensions, plastic surgery and Botox. The suit also claims that the Meesters had an ‘oral contract’ with each other, an understanding which entailed that Leighton send over $10,000 per month for life. Now that’s what you call decent parenting.

Leighton claims that no such contract or understanding exists and is currently in negotiations with the judge to discount the contract; to declare it null and void.

However, Constance is fighting back and according to TMZ, the elder Meester claims the money, specifically $7,500 every month, is part of a settlement that she was awarded for getting her daughter to the point she is in her career, as well as playing a pivotal role in making the money she does. Constance has threatened to file a $3 million lawsuit unless Leighton starts paying up.

Furthermore, Constance filed a countersuit against her daughter in LA County Superior Court stating that in December of last year, Leighton attacked her with a bottle. She maintains that Leighton had to be pulled off of her mother after she threw her to the ground and started “repeatedly hitting her with a bottle”.

However, what makes Leighton’s case stronger is the fact that Constance is an old hand at sedition and subterfuge. CBS’ Celebrity Circuit claims: “Constance Meester has a history of getting in trouble with the law.” She actually gave birth to her famous daughter while serving a federal prison sentence for her involvement in a smuggling ring that transported illicit drugs from Jamaica to the United States.

What’s more, New York Daily News reports that earlier this year, 54-year-old Constance, had a restraining order filed against her by one Laurel Wigg, whose son went to school with Meester’s son. According to a statement by Wigg, Constance allegedly threatened to “hunt down and kill” both Wigg and her son.

It makes one wonder, if Leighton was selected for the lead role as the formidable Blair Waldorf for her acting skills at all, or if her genes ensured she landed the part as the malicious New Yorker. Whatever the case, it looks like Leighton won’t be signing off any messages to her mother with Gossip Girl’s trademark “xoxo” any time soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th,  2011.