Jenny Humphrey
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| Jenny Humphrey | |
| General information | |
| Full name | Jennifer Tallulah Humphrey |
| Nickname(s) | Jenny (by everyone) J, Little J, Queen J |
| Birthplace | Brooklyn, New York City, NY |
| Birthday | April 2, 1993 |
| Occupation | High school student (at Constance; departed) College student (at Central Saint Martins) Fashion designer (at Waldorf Designs) |
| Relationships | |
| Family | Rufus Humphrey (father) Alison Humphrey (mother) Daniel "Dan" Humphrey (older brother) Scott Rosson (paternal half-brother) Serena van der Woodsen (sister-in-law, via Dan) |
| Romances | Nate Archibald (crush) Chuck Bass (one-night-stand) Asher Hornsby (ex-boyfriend) Damien Dalgaard (ex-boyfriend) |
| Friends | Eric van der Woodsen (best friend) Blair Waldorf Serena van der Woodsen |
| Enemies | Agnes Andrews Hazel Williams Isabel Coates Penelope Shafai Juliet Sharp Vanessa Abrams Kira Abernathy |
| Series information | |
| Status | Alive |
| Portrayed by | Taylor Momsen |
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "New York, I Love You XOXO" |
Jennifer Tallulah "Jenny" Humphrey is a main character in the Gossip Girl television series and a recurring character in the novels of the same name. The younger sister of Dan Humphrey and best friend to Eric van der Woodsen, Jenny is introduced as an aspiring social climber at Constance, competing with Blair Waldorf for the position of queen bee.
Jenny served as a main character in the television series from seasons one through four, though she did not appear again until the series finale, "New York, I Love You XOXO."
Contents |
Novel series
Edit
Jenny Humphrey is the daughter of Rufus Humphrey, an unpublished editor of Beat poets, and Jeanette Humphrey, who ran off with a European aristocrat when the Humphrey children were little. Jenny has an older sibling, Dan Humphrey, who is an aspiring poet. She's also an aspiring artist, and a student at the Constance Billard School for Girls, a small, elite school on the Upper East Side. Jenny is described as being a short, well-endowed brunette in the novels. Jenny hangs out with her sometimes best friend Elise Wells or with Serena van der Woodsen who she really wants to be. She dated Nate Archibald, before he broke her heart by trying to win back Blair Waldorf, his ex-girlfriend. Later, Jenny dated a boy named Leo.
The It Girl seriesEdit
The main character of The It Girl, Jenny Humphrey arrives at Waverly Academy after having been expelled from the Constance Billard School for Girls. Jenny is eager to reinvent herself as 'New Jenny,' a more confident and more popular version of her former self, and to make an impression on her new classmates. Described as being short, with curly brown hair and large brown eyes, Jenny's otherwise innocent appearance is marred by her double-D breasts. Jenny is excited to discover that her two new roommates, Callie Vernon and Brett Messerschmidt, are two of the most popular girls at Waverly.
Although Jenny gets off to a rocky start at Waverly, the attention she receives from the other students generally gets more positive as the series progresses. In the first book of the series, it is noted that Jenny seems to share certain traits with Tinsley Carmichael, who, prior to Jenny's arrival, was the most popular girl at Waverly before getting expelled before the beginning of the series. Despite being a new student at Waverly, Jenny lands herself a string of boyfriends - namely, Easy Walsh, Julian McCafferty and Drew Gately. Jenny's relationships are often short-lived, with each boy she dates showing up unexpectedly in her life just as her previous relationship is winding down. In the final novel, Julian unexpectedly shows up to her car and ask that they maintain contact over the summer. Jenny agrees and gives him a hug before leaving, implying that they will become a couple again. Jenny gets off on the wrong foot with Tinsley Carmichael when she returns to Waverly and despite Jenny's attempts to get Tinsley to like her, it is clear that Tinsley is jealous and annoyed that Jenny is taking her spot as Waverly's most popular girl. The two of them are frequently involved in some form of conflict, with Tinsley's main goal of turning the other students of Waverly against Jenny.
Jenny is very artistic and in fact got into Waverly on the strength of her art portfolio. She takes advanced art classes despite being a sophomore. She joins the field hockey team and proves to be a good player despite having no previous experience. Throughout the semester she keeps in close contact with her father, often e-mailing and texting him about her classes at Waverly.
Television seriesEdit
Jenny Humphrey is the daughter of former musician player Rufus Humphrey and artist Alison Humphrey, who leaves the Humphrey household to pursue her art, and is the younger sister of Dan Humphrey. In Seasons 1 and 2, she lives in Williamsburg with Dan and Rufus, she is joined for a short time by her mother, however her parents decide to split for good, so her mother moves back to Hudson. In Season 3, Jenny moves in with her new family; step-mother Lily, step-siblings Chuck, Serena and Eric. She is now living in the center of Manhattan but this turns out to be a mistake; she is banished by Blair and decides to live with her mother in Hudson. She returns to Manhattan for brief periods in Season 4, but still lives in Hudson.
Season 1Edit
Desperately trying to fit in with Blair's clique, Blair makes fitting in difficult for her as she subjects Jenny to the rules of the high school hierarchy. Any possible friendship ends when Blair discovers Nate's lingering feelings for Serena and Jenny's interest in Nate that entails further cruelty on Jenny. However, when Blair's affair with Chuck Bass is exposed on Gossip Girl, Nate approaches Jenny about it. Jenny, who has grown tired of Blair's cruelty towards her, confesses to him that Blair and Chuck had a secret relationship. Blair's friends shun her for her hypocrisy and establish Jenny as the new Queen of Constance Billard. Despite being one of the school it-girls, she is driven to prove herself, but her low self-confidence that stems from not having the same privileged financial status as the other girls provokes her to sell her sewing machine and barter an expensive dress she stole from one of her friends. When Blair throws her a surprise birthday party, the other girls discover that Jenny stole the dress, bringing Blair's scheme full circle. Jenny retaliates by bringing Nate with her to Blair's victory party and persuades the girls to her side by telling them that she bought the dress secondhand, leading them to believe the housekeeper did it. Jenny and Blair then struggle for the position of Queen Bee. Jenny and her sidekick Elise Wells run into a dogwalker, who later turns out to be Asher Hornsby, a wealthy boy who goes to another Manhattan prep school. Their romance is short-lived when she discovers that he is gay. He convinces her to say that she lost her virginity to him in order to put the rumors of him being gay to rest, and as long as she pretends it's true, he'll repay her by helping her gain the status she lacks from her low-income background. However, Blair and Eric, who had a relationship with Asher, out Asher at his own party, and Jenny confesses that she lied about having sex with him. Blair's clique abandons her once again, and she later finds Blair to tell her that she's won the title of Queen,as it's "not worth it". At the end of the season finale, Jenny receives her internship assignment, which happens to be at Blair's mother Eleanor's company.
Season 2Edit
At the beginning of season two, Jenny spends her summer working hard as a new intern for Eleanor Waldorf Designs. She makes a dress in hopes that her supervisor, Laurel, will wear it to the Vitamin Water White Party in the Hamptons, but Laurel insults the color and walks away. Eager to go to the party and wear the dress herself to show that she has talent, she apologizes to Eric for her behavior in the previous season. He forgives her and invites her to the party, where he introduces her to Tinsley Mortimer and where she proves her worth to Laurel.
Eleanor fires Jenny after she makes a critical remark on one of her dresses to another model, but during a citywide blackout, Eleanor and Jenny are stuck together, and Jenny helps Eleanor, leading her to reconsider her decision and give Jenny more responsibility in the atelier. After constant harassment by Blair’s minions, Jenny decides to skip school in order to put in more hours at Eleanor's atelier. Blair, jealous at how fond Eleanor is of Jenny, informs Rufus that Jenny has been skipping school, and Rufus forces her to quit working at Eleanor's right before New York Fashion Week.
When Blair and Serena have another fight concerning Serena's growing popularity, Jenny is dragged into their fight during Eleanor's fashion show and is subject to Blair's torture when she unknowingly changes the seating arrangement that Blair had initially planned. Blair attempts to sabotage Jenny’s work in the show by sending the models home, but Jenny improvises, proposing that Serena and the socialites walk the runway instead. In an effort to ruin Serena and Jenny in one swing, Blair switches the final dress with one that Jenny made, drawing Eleanor's ire. Despite this, the dress is a huge hit with the audience and the fashion show is a big success. Jenny, who used scraps from the atelier to make the dress, insists that Eleanor take credit for the dress, and all is resolved except for Blair. Jenny realizes Blair's frustrations regarding her friendship with Serena, commenting that they have worked hard for what they’ve wanted and Serena just glides through. Eleanor later praises Jenny Humphrey for her work and Blair and Jenny reach a temporary impasse.
Rufus eventually agrees to Jenny being home schooled after seeing how committed and good at her job she is. At work, Jenny befriends a model named Agnes Andrews, who convinces her to start her own fashion line. Realizing that working for Eleanor won't help her develop as a designer and that Eleanor herself has begun to take advantage of Jenny's talents in fashion, Jenny leaves. Jenny also begins a short relationship with Nate when they share a passionate kiss after he rescues her from being taken advantage of by an older photographer. Jenny and Rufus argue over her quitting Eleanor’s and Jenny moves out of the Humphrey’s apartment and moves in with Agnes, who suggests that they plan a guerrilla fashion show at the charity gala honoring Lily and Bart Bass.The show is a big success but Vanessa witnesses her kissing Nate, thereby straining their friendship. Rufus is furious at Jenny's attempt to interrupt the gala and tries to get her arrested, but Lily refused to press charges. Due to Agnes' fiery temper and their growing disagreements over the clothing line, the pair have trouble closing a business deal. Jenny steals Agnes’ contact list, attempting to make a deal by herself. Upon learning of Jenny’s betrayal, Agnes burns all of her dresses and kicks her out of her apartment, leaving her with nothing.
Upon learning that she is too young to start her own business, she attempts to file for emancipation but Rufus refuses. On Thanksgiving, Lily finds the papers after discovering that Jenny has been hiding in their apartment with Eric, and warns Rufus. Rufus and Jenny reconcile their relationship, after a little persuasion from Eleanor and she returns home. During the Snowflake Ball, Jenny learns that Vanessa and Nate are back together even though Vanessa was aware of Nate's feelings for her. The final straw in the disagreement is when Jenny finds out that Nate actually wanted to be with Jenny, but Vanessa intercepted the letter he sent Jenny, explaining his feelings. Jenny and the mean girls of Constance work together to humiliate Vanessa by giving her a see-through dress to wear to the Snowflake Ball. When Nate finds out what Jenny did, he tells her he doesn't want to be with Jenny if she's this kind of person, and gets back together with Vanessa. Jenny, disgusted at her own behavior, returns to Constance to try to stand up for herself against the mean girl minions of Blair.
During the season finale and Serena’s hunt down for Gossip Girl, Jenny decides to compete to be the next Queen Bee after Blair leaves, which involves finding the juiciest piece of gossip and sending it into Gossip Girl. She almost drops out, but Blair gives her a touching speech about keeping her eye on the prize. In the end Blair chooses Jenny and crowns her Queen of Constance, announcing that since Lily and Rufus are getting married, Jenny is now the richest girl at Constance.
Season 3Edit
After Jenny fails to bring about egalitarianism at Constance, she resolves to rule as Queen Bee with her own group of minions. With her new position and wealth, Jenny’s social climbing persona resurfaces and she begins to erase her former Brooklyn self, throwing away her homemade clothes and sewing machine. Worried that Jenny is turning into another regular Queen Bee, Eric and Jonathon attempt an intervention but as a result are humiliated by Jenny and her clique. Eric teams up with Blair to take down Jenny at the Cotillion Ball by sabotaging her escort. The plan backfires however and Jenny instead secures none other than Nate to escort her, winning her the respect of the other Queens at every other prep school on the Upper East Side. As a consequence of Eric’s scheming, Jonathan breaks up with him and a rift emerges in Jenny and Eric’s relationship.
Chuck introduces her to Damien Dalgaard, son of the Belgian ambassador who works as a drug dealer to make his own money. Jenny liking his wild lifestyle, eventually strikes up a relationship with him and aids him in supplying drugs to his customers while sharing in some of the profit, even stealing some of Lily’s “headache pills”. Eventually Lily and Rufus find out about the drugs, which Damien covers up with a story about his father. Against Rufus’s will, Jenny continues her relationship with Damien who seems interested in taking it further. Jenny, who is a virgin, backs out at the last minute causing Damien to break up with her, leaving her to face her family.
On Rufus’ suggestion, Eleanor reemploys Jenny to help out with her upcoming fashion show. Jenny is happy to be back, but is shocked to learn that one of the models she’ll be working with is her old friend Agnes, who, after the show finishes, takes revenge on Jenny by drugging her and leaving her in a bar to be taken advantage of. Jenny is rescued by Nate, however before anything happens to her. Because of this though, Jenny’s feeling towards Nate reawakens and she aspires to win him over. She tries to kiss him but he resists her advances because he sees her only as a friend and because he is dating Serena. Jenny attempts to sabotage Serena and Nate’s relationship by lying to Serena and implying to Nate that she is having an affair with Carter Baizen. Jenny’s attempts fail, and her relationship with both is left tenuous after Nate kicks her out of his apartment.
At a gala event where Serena’s recently returned father William van der Woodsen is making a speech, a former client of Damien’s approaches Jenny, angrily telling her the drugs she sold her (Lily’s cancer medication, as was recently revealed) gave her a yeast infection. Rufus overhears this and grounds Jenny to the Humphrey apartment in Brooklyn. During her punishment, Jenny researches Lily’s medicine and informs Chuck via telephone that there is something very wrong about the medication that Serena’s father is prescribing her. It is discovered that, William has lied to Lily about her condition and has been giving her drugs that in fact make her sick in a plot to win her back off Rufus. Seeing an opportunity to break up Rufus and Lily and return her family to the way it was before, Jenny attempts to sabotage Blair, Chuck and Nate’s plan to unveil William’s deception. When William is about to be held accountable, she quickly runs to William and warns him, telling him that the police will be coming to get him, and urges him to escape. Back at the van der Woodsen penthouse she reveals that it was she who warned Dr. van der Woodsen and that she wishes her family can go back to normal stating "When I lived in Brooklyn, I may have had to ride the subway to school, and make my own clothes, but at least our family was happy". Rufus says that the only thing that needs to return to normal is Jenny. Eric is hurt by Jenny's attempt to leave the family, and says that if she wants out, no one is forcing her to stay.
Jenny hits rock bottom after sending a picture of Dan and Serena in bed together to Gossip Girl, jeopardizing Dan and Nate’s friendship, Dan and Vanessa's relationship, and breaking up Nate and Serena’s relationship. Blair confronts Jenny telling her that “Nate loves Serena, Dan loves Vanessa -god knows why- and Chuck loves me. But you Jenny? No one loves you, except your daddy. And after what you pulled yesterday, who knows if that's even true anymore?” Emotionally distressed, Jenny goes to Nate’s apartment but instead finds Chuck devastated over his break-up with Blair and in her state of vulnerability, Jenny loses her virginity to Chuck. However, afterwards, Blair arrives willing to take Chuck back and Jenny sneaks out. She breaks down in tears to Eric, telling him that everyone hates her and that she slept with Chuck. Eric tells Dan, who confronts Chuck just as he is about to propose to Blair. Jenny, in tears, leaves with Rufus and Lily. A week later, she says her goodbyes to her family and leaves to finish out high school with her mother in Hudson.
Season 4Edit
- Taylor Momsen, who plays Jenny Humphrey, was absent for the majority of the season, but made appearances in "Easy J", "Juliet Doesn't Live Here Anymore", "The Witches of Bushwick", and "Gaslit".
Jenny has been living in Hudson with her mother since May due to the troubles that occurred in "Last Tango, Then Paris", where she caused an uproar with Serena and Dan when she sent a picture of the two of them in bed together, which led to the breakups of Dan and Vanessa, and Serena and Nate. Later, upset, she slept with Chuck, which led to Blair breaking up with Chuck and banishing Jenny from New York City.
The end of the episode "Goodbye, Columbia" shows Chuck talking on the phone to Veronica (a woman who works with Tim Gunn) regarding an interview with Gunn for a returning Jenny.
Jenny returns to New York in the episode "Easy J" and has a fight with Blair. Tired of Blair's schemes, she sends a Gossip Girl blast about losing her virginity to Chuck and reveals the secret that both Chuck and Blair wanted to hide. She then returns to Hudson after telling Chuck and Blair that if their vindictive games towards each other continue, they will destroy each other. Later, Jenny lies and says she has a test to study for and that is why she can't make it to the Upper East Side for Lily and Rufus' anniversary. Eric and Dan know that she is afraid to come home because she is afraid of Blair and Chuck and of turning into the person she used to be. So Dan tries a few schemes himself but realizes that he is turning into Blair and Chuck as well.
Jenny later becomes involved in a scheme with Juliet Sharp and Vanessa in order to bring down Serena and turn everyone against her. But when Serena ends up in the hospital after being drugged by Juliet, Jenny tells Juliet that she is going to come clean with everyone about their scheme, but Juliet warns her that she will be going down alone. When Jenny appears at the hospital, Vanessa has already pinned the entire scheme on her. Unable to defend herself, Jenny leaves. She shows up at Blair's that night, telling her that Juliet was behind everything and that she and Vanessa were merely accomplices. To prove her story, she hands Blair Juliet's masquerade mask and temporarily earns Blair's forgiveness. After confessing to Blair, Jenny says she's returning to Hudson.
Season 5Edit
It is revealed by Rufus in the season 5 episode "Yes, Then Zero" that Jenny, along with Eric , has moved to London to attend Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Jenny does not appear in season 5.
Season 6Edit
Jenny returns to the Upper East Side for the series finale, but with a very minor role. She was seen in the Bass' home to attend Serena and Dan's wedding. She is seen clutching a bag with the print 'J for Waldorf', implying that she's become a successful designer with her own line working alongside previous rival, Blair Waldorf Bass.
PersonalityEdit
TV SeriesEdit
In the TV Series Jenny remains determined and self-conscious the entire way through the seasons but she matures and changes as more and more things happen to her.
Season 1Edit
In Season 1 Jenny is shy, quiet and trusting. She wants to be one of the girls that she admires and will do anything to become one of them, going as far as to steal and sell all of her stuff. She is artistic and very fashionable managing to make her own clothes and design clothes for other people.
Season 2Edit
In Season 2 Jenny has become ignored and an outsider just like her brother Dan, but she has also become hard-working and honest. She works for Eleanor Waldorf Designs and loves having a job which she is very good at. She remains to be a good sister, she always looks out for Dan and is ecstatic when he gets back together with Serena. As the season progresses she becomes more independent, ditching Eleanor and then Agnes in an attempt to become a better fashion designer.
Season 3Edit
In Season 3 Jenny has gone through a huge transformation, she starts the Season her normal self but she soon becomes bitchy, dishonest, disrespectful and horrible. She hurts the people she loves until eventually she realises she isn't herself anymore. Jenny loses her virginity to Chuck in the season finale. When she leaves she vows to be herself again away from all the mean girls of the Upper East Side.
Season 4Edit
In Season 4, when Jenny returns it is quickly shown she has no desire to be her old self again, in fact she agrees to stay in her apartment and not go against Blair. This is quickly diminished when she makes team Brooklyn again with Juliet and Vanessa, they take down Serena and break up Blair and Serena's friendship. She decides she hasn't changed, apologizes to Blair and temporarily earns her forgiveness before going back to Hudson to live with her mom once more.
Season 5Edit
In Season 5, Rufus reveals that Jenny is now studying in Central Saint Martins in London. Jenny does not appear throughout season 5.
Season 6Edit
In Season 6, Jenny returns to the Upper East Side in the five-year time jump / flashforward. Jenny has become a successful fashion designer and is now working alongside former enemy Blair Waldorf Bass, and she attends Dan Humphrey and Serena van der Woodsen's wedding.
PhotosEdit
This character has a Photo Gallery.
