Jared Kushner should've got more dialogues in 2010 'Gossip Girl' cameo with Ivanka Trump, says showrunner
A decade before she was touring the nation trying to get the battleground states to vote for her father in his upcoming reelection campaign, and he was heading multiple high profile tasks as the senior adviser to the president one of which involved brokering peace in the Middle East, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were preparing for a cameo. The couple was to appear in a TV show that eventually became a cult favorite – 'Gossip Girl' – where they were playing themselves.
The episode in question was titled 'Easy J' and it aired on the first wedding anniversary for the power couple back in 2010, where Ivanka and Jared were seen mingled with the original cast members of 'Gossip Girl' at a party thrown by Kushner’s New York Observer. On the occasion of the couple's anniversary on October 25, an interview with Vulture from September 2017 resurfaced in which 'Gossip Girl' co-creator Josh Schwartz regretted not giving Kushner more dialogues to say in the Season 4 episode, as it would be nearly seven years before the world would get to hear the businessman’s speaking voice which eventually became the subject of mockery. “We could’ve had a recorded video of his voice!” the showrunner said regretfully.
He added that convincing the couple to appear on the show was not difficult as celebrities at the time did want to guest appear on the show. Schwartz said, “It would’ve been, ‘They’re on a list and they’re in town — reach out and see if they’re available,'” adding, “People wanted to be on the show. It was a crazy thing.”
Co-creator Joshua Safran also chimed in, saying how Ivanka and Jared were perfect for the cameo. “They are socialites in New York and they do fit the world of Gossip Girl,” he said. “I’m sure Lily van der Woodsen knows Trump and would have been on the board of charities with him or Melania. That’s the world of Gossip Girl, so to deny it would be wrong.”
The first daughter, who was no stranger to being in the spotlight having appeared a number of times as a boardroom advisor on many episodes of her father's 'The Apprentice' gushed about her appearance on 'Gossip Girl' at the time in an interview with the InStyle magazine. “I never miss an episode of Gossip Girl,” she said excitedly. “I think I’m a cross between Blair Waldorf (played by Leighton Meester) and Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford) when it comes to the style. I like the uptown city style and a clean-cut, streamlined silhouette.”
On Sunday, Ivanka Trump penned an emotional tribute to her husband on Twitter, writing, "11 incredible years... with forever to go! Happy anniversary my love!" on the occasion of their wedding anniversary, along with a number of intimate pictures of the couple depicting their love for each other.
11 incredible years... with forever to go! ❤️
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 25, 2020
Happy anniversary my love! pic.twitter.com/ZvWqCtMyjO
Just a few days earlier, we reported that the couple threatened legal action against the Lincoln Project over New York City billboards that depict the pair as showing "indifference" toward the toll of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a letter shared by the anti-Trump Republican group. The couple's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, called the ads "false, malicious and defamatory" in a cease-and-desist letter the Lincoln Project posted on Twitter on Friday, October 23.