Jessica Szohr Opens Up About Getting Backlash For Vanessa Abrams on 'Gossip Girl'

Jessica Szohr is opening up about how fans disliked her Gossip Girl character, Vanessa Abrams on the 2000s era series.

The 36-year-old actress was promoting her new podcast, XOXO, and while speaking with Teen Vogue got candid about the backlash from fans.

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Jessica explained that if you didn’t like everything she was doing on screen, then she wasn’t doing her job.

“I feel like [Vanessa] definitely got the short end of the stick,” Jessica explained, and adding that her character “was funny to me because there were so many parts of her that I really liked.

She went on, “There were other parts where I would think ‘Why is she on the Upper East Side again?’ When she hooked up with Chuck, I was thinking, ‘Why hook up with Chuck? Why is Chuck hooking up with her?’”

“Some of the stuff that was written [in the show] was cringe-worthy and was annoying. So if I annoyed you and you cringed at Vanessa, then I was doing my job, because some of the stuff was that way,” Jessica shared.

Ultimately, Jessica understood the mixed reactions she got for playing Vanessa.

“I do think fans were testy with Vanessa, and that’s okay,” she says. “There were things that deserved that, for what she did, but also when you play someone, you also feel for them.”

You can check out Jessica‘s podcast here…

Just last year, Jessica welcomed her first child.