Vice interview (circa 2014) — source for Meester on music: “I was able to outgrow and shun the popular music”; “I’m not necessarily trying to make a living off music or get into the Top 40”; “I’m not that pop person and I don’t know that I ever was”; “Singing is my second career”; “People can’t grasp that it’s a separate thing and I’m a separate person”; brother’s mixtapes; recording Heartstrings in Budapest.
Hollywoodlife.com, “Leighton Meester’s Mom: Facts About The Woman Who Gave Birth To Her While In Prison” — source for: Constance gave birth in a hospital (not a prison cell); nursed Leighton for a few months in a halfway house; Leighton went to live with paternal grandparents; Constance released approximately 16 months after Leighton’s birth; aunt Judy first woman on US Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list; 2011 lawsuit; Constance counter-suit alleging oral agreement for $10,000/month; Constance dropped counter-suit late 2011; judge rejected counter-suit June 2012; Leighton’s quote to Cosmopolitan: “My mom lived through a lot before I was born, and I can’t judge her on that.”
The List, “Tragic Details About Leighton Meester’s Life” — supplementary source corroborating family details; paternal grandparents raising Leighton; aunt escaped from prison, Most Wanted; Marco Island childhood; modeling convention at 10.
Wikipedia, “Heartstrings (Leighton Meester album)” — source for tracklist, release date (October 28, 2014), label (Vagrant / Hotly Wanting), genres (folk, dream pop, indie pop, alternative rock), producer Jeff Trott.
Wikipedia, “Gossip Girl Season 1” — source for premiere date September 19, 2007; network CW; setting Upper East Side Manhattan; Blair Waldorf as Queen Bee character; show’s class contrast between Upper East Side and Brooklyn outsiders.