Penn Badgley weighs in on one of Gossip Girl’s most controversial twists, and he's naming the one person he believes should have been behind the keyboard. The CW drama series ran from 2007 to 2012, following the lives of privileged Manhattan teens and the anonymous blogger who exposed their secrets. The final season of Gossip Girl stunned audiences by revealing that the Brooklyn-born outsider played by Badgley, Dan Humphrey, had been Gossip Girl all along, a choice that continues to draw mixed reactions from viewers and critics.