Deadline Hollywood reported Monday that Taylor Momsen has been suspended from 'Gossip Girl,' but a source from the show tells People that Momsen is still a regular whose screen time has been reduced this season for "creative reasons."
"They graduated high school ... [and] they found that it was hard to put all of them in the same environment in a natural way," said the source. "When you see Jenny they want her to be driving the story, not just hanging out with the mean girls back in high school."
Momsen was branded a "brat" and "diva" by Tim Gunn, who guested on 'Gossip Girl' and claimed she could not remember any of her lines because of her Blackberry addiction. She has also exposed her breasts while performing with her band and otherwise cultivated a controversial image, but these incidents reportedly have not impacted her 'Gossip Girl' contract.
"This has nothing to do with her bad behavior or her music career," the source told People. "She's still under contract and she's still a part of the show. She's just in fewer episodes."
Deadline's report does not specify why Momsen's role has been reduced, but suggests it had something to do with her offscreen antics, "including her barely-there wardrobe and expletive-laced tirades against peers such as Miley Cyrus":
Sources confirm that the increasingly volatile actress - who has appeared in a grand total of three episodes this fall despite being listed as a series regular - will begin an indefinite hiatus following next Monday's episode. Although reps for The CW and producer Warner Bros. declined to comment, sources confirm that Momsen's Jenny will be MIA for at least four episodes beginning with the show's midseason finale on Dec. 6.