LOS ANGELES — Leighton Meester loves the fact that she's part of a hit show, but the "Gossip Girl" star would prefer to stay out of the tabloid limelight.
"I don't want most of what comes along with all of this," the 23-year-old actress confesses in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar.
One such tabloid rumor that Meester is still fuming about is the one about her so-called sex tape that surfaced in June. It was said that Meester shot the video with an ex-boyfriend when she was 18.
"[The tape] is not real," Meester insists, "so it makes me sort of sad. It's unfortunate that it got carried as far as it did."
While the sex tape chatter was upsetting, Meester says it proved to be a valuable lesson.
"I definitely understand the nature of people better now and that the mere allegation of something like that could be headline news," she tells the mag. "People think it's real because somebody says it is."
"By the way, [as for] me being 18 in those pictures, I don't believe I was," she adds.
Meester has developed some tough skin to go along with her sudden fame and she's become very protective of her inner circle.
"I'm doing everything I can to keep things separate," she explains. "I feel like my friends are in a cult because we're like, No outsiders! I've never been crazy. I'm a very good girl, to be honest. I don't do anything to hurt anybody. Honestly, all I ever do is work."
One such member of Meester's inner circle is her fellow co-star Ed Westwick, who admits to having developed a unique bond with the Texas native.
"The first thing I thought when I met Leighton was, F---ing hell, this girl's gorgeous," he says. "And she was incredibly sweet. Now we tell each other to f--- off whenever we want to."
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