Jenny Humphrey (2024)

This article is about the tv character. You may be looking for the novel character.

Jennifer "Jenny" Tallulah Humphrey is a main character in the Gossip Girl television adaptation and a recurring character in the novels of the same name. She is the younger sister of Dan Humphrey and a social climber who idolizes Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen.

Jenny appeared as a member of the main cast through seasons one through three and was downgraded in the fourth season to a recurring character.

Jenny appeared in 72 episodes.

Summary

Jenny is the daughter of Rufus and Alison Humphrey and the sister of Dan. When the story begins, Jenny is a freshman at Constance Billard School for Girls and consistently vying for Blair's attention and approval. However, as the show progresses, Jenny steps away from seeking approval and works to be a force in her own right. At the end of the third season Jenny moves to Hudson, New York to live with Alison.

In New York, I Love You XOXO, it's shown that Jenny and Blair fixed their problems with one another and Jenny created a line for Waldorf Designs titled J for Waldorf. Throughout the series Jenny is aged 14 to 25.

Novel Series

In the Gossip Girl novels, Jenny is portrayed very similar to her TV character. She is described as being very short (around 5'0), having curly brown hair, and extremely large breasts due to her taking medication to grow them. Also similar to the TV show Jenny admires the Upper East Side lifestyle and tries different ways to work her way in; such as modeling and befriending Serena. She is also very interested in art, which is shown when she briefly dates Nate Archibald and in turn paints several portraits of his face.

After being expelled from Constance, Jenny is able to convince her father, Rufus, to let her attend Waverly Academy, a boarding school located in upstate New York.

Television Series

Season One

Jenny is introduced in Pilot as the youngest minion of Blair Waldorf. She writes out the invitations for Blair's Kiss on the Lips party in exchange for an invitation, which she receives. While at the party, Chuck Bass takes an immediate interest in her and takes her up to the roof to hang out. While up there, he attempts to force himself on her but is stopped by Dan and Serena van der Woodsen. Soon after, Jenny befriends Serena's little brother, Eric van der Woodsen, who is recovering from a recent suicide attempt (Poison Ivy).

In Dare Devil Jenny is invited to Blair's annual sleepover and finds herself in a high stakes Truth or Dare game. After she's able to beat Blair at her own game, she gains a little respect from her. In The Handmaiden's Tale Jenny, with the help of Vanessa Abrams, sneaks into the Masked Ball that Blair forbid her to attend. While there, she trades masks with Serena and runs into Nate Archibald, who mistakes her for so. He admits that he is still in love with her and kisses her before Jenny is able to get away. On her way out, Blair discovers that Jenny attended and defied her orders. In Victor Victrola Jenny admits what happened at the ball to Blair, who fires her from being a minion.

On the night of Cotillion in Hi, Society Jenny chooses to attend the Debutante Ball instead of Alison's art opening. While at the ball, Jenny witnesses Blair's dress being ripped during a scuffle between Nate and Carter Baizen. Blair offers to forgive Jenny for everything if she fixes her dress; which she does, causing her to miss Alison's opening all together. As a result, Alison warns Jenny to think hard about the kind of person she is becoming. In A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate Jenny becomes angry when Blair tells her that she isn't ever going to be her friend. Later that night, she overhears a conversation between Dan and Serena and learns that Blair slept with both Nate and Chuck in the same week. The next day, the rumor comes out on Gossip Girl and Jenny confirms the rumor to Nate, who breaks up with Blair. Due to Blair's downfall, the other minions take over ruling the school and allow Jenny to hold a higher position within their group.

In The Blair Bitch Project Nate warns Jenny not to become corrupted by who she is hanging out with. Meanwhile, Jenny is struggling to keep up with the luxurious lifestyle of her new friends and steals a dress from Hazel Williams' mother's closet to wear at the birthday dinner they are planning for her. At the same time, Blair works with Rufus to plan an embarrassing party for Jenny; where it's revealed that she stole Hazel's mother's dress. While the girls are angry at first, they decide to forgive Jenny rather than give power back to Blair. Soon after, Jenny begins dating Asher Hornsby, a student at Unity (Desperately Seeking Serena). However, she quickly realizes she made a big mistake after Asher reveals that he is gay and only using her as a beard. At a joint party Asher and Jenny throw together, Blair and Eric reveal Asher's sexuality to everyone. After finding out, Jenny's friends become angry at her for lying about sleeping with Asher and kick her out of the group (All About My Brother).

In Much 'I Do' About Nothing Jenny learns she has gotten a summer fashion internship with Blair's mother, Eleanor Waldorf, at Waldorf Designs.

Season Two

After Jenny spends an entire summer interning at Waldorf Designs, she is briefly fired by Eleanor in The Dark Night but gets her job back the same day. After school begins and Jenny becomes worried about Blair's clique targeting her and begins to skip school to work at the atelier. However, Blair quickly figures out what Jenny is doing and alerts Rufus; who attempts to put a stop to it. When he confronts Jenny about it she tells him that she isn't planning on returning to Constance (The Serena Also Rises). While Rufus originally rejects the idea, he eventually decides to let Jenny be homeschooled (New Haven Can Wait).

Soon after, Nate moves into the Humphrey loft after Dan and Jenny discover that he is living off the bare minimum in his house. At the same time, Jenny is taking on more responsibilities at Waldorf Designs and befriends a model, Agnes Andrews, who convinces her to quit letting Eleanor rip off her designs and start her own clothing line. In Pret-a-Poor-J Jenny quits Eleanor's after Eleanor is unhappy with work Jenny prepared for her to present as her own. Later that day she hangs out with Agnes and ends up dancing with her shirt off while Agnes' boyfriend, Max, takes photos. Nate escorts her home but kisses her on the way out. In There Might be Blood Jenny and Agnes plan to crash a benefit honoring Bart Bass and Lily van der Woodsen in an attempt to get financial backers for their line. They successfully do so, and Dan kicks Nate out of the loft after he witnesses him kiss Jenny. However, Rufus is angry with Jenny for sabotaging an event and almost has her arrested. Afterwards Jenny moves out to stay with Agnes. In Bonfire of the Vanity Jenny becomes increasingly annoyed with Agnes' cavalier behavior towards the future of their line. After she blows an important meeting, Jenny steals her list of contacts and begins to meet with them secretly. When Agnes finds out she burns all of Jenny's dresses and kicks her out of her apartment. Jenny then goes home to ask Rufus to sign papers giving permission for her to start her own line. He refuses and Jenny goes to stay at the art gallery. The next day, she meets with a potential investor who suggests she emancipate herself to get the ball rolling on next steps.

In The Magnificent Archibalds Lily and Bart learn that Eric has been letting Jenny stay in their penthouse. Lily finds Jenny's emancipation papers and immediately calls Rufus to tell him. She arranges a meeting between the two and Rufus tells Jenny that if she really truly wants him to sign the papers, he will. She mulls it over before ripping the papers up and tells Rufus that she doesn't want to not be his daughter. At Thanksgiving dinner, Vanessa finds a letter Nate wrote to Jenny where he admits he has feelings for her and she steals it before Jenny can see it. When Jenny finds out she teams up with Penelope Shafai, Isabel Coates, and Hazel to humiliate Vanessa at the Snowflake Ball. Jenny makes her a dress with zero lining, rendering the dress see through, and they arrange for Vanessa to have a spotlight shown on her. When Nate finds out what Jenny did he tells her he has no interest in her anymore (It's a Wonderful Lie). After Christmas, Jenny decides to return to Constance (In the Realm of the Basses).

In Gone with the Will it's revealed that Jenny, Dan, Serena, and Eric share a half sibling due to Rufus and Lily having had a son before any of them were born. In The Goodbye Gossip Girl Blair chooses Jenny to be her succeeding queen after she graduates Constance.

Season Three

In Dan de Fleurette Jenny officially begins her reign as new queen of Constance in the start of her Junior year. However, Blair is unsatisfied with the way she is running things and steps in. After this, Jenny begins to take her new role more seriously and becomes much like the way Blair was. In Rufus Getting Married Rufus and Lily officially wed and Jenny becomes a part of the VDW family. Soon after, Jenny is tested when she chooses being queen over her friendship with Eric and the two begin to fight (How to Succeed in Bassness).In The Hurt Locket Jenny meets Damien Dalgaard, a former classmate of Serena's who deals drugs. He brings Jenny onto his operation and the two become close, eventually beginning to date in The Lady Vanished. However, since Damien is older than Jenny, he becomes interested in wanting to have sex with her. Jenny is onboard until she realizes her virginity is a bigger deal than Damien made it out to be, so the two break up (The Sixteen Year Old Virgin).

Meanwhile, Jenny begins crushing on Nate and works to break up his relationship with Serena. In Inglourious Bassterds she learns Serena has left the state to find her father, William van der Woodsen, with Carter and chooses not to tell Nate the information. She uses his anger toward Serena to advance her intentions toward him but he rejects her (Dr. Estrangeloved). In It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World Jenny is confronted by a former client of Damien's, who outs her as a drug dealer to Rufus. Later that night, while researching Lily's cancer, Jenny realizes that the medicine William is prescribing her is not effective at healing. As a result, she, Chuck, Dan, Nate, and Blair work together to find out why William and a neighbor of the VDW's, Holland, doesn't want Lily getting better. However, Jenny sabotages the scheme in order to break Rufus and Lily up so she can return to her life in Brooklyn. William is able to get away but Rufus and Lily choose to stay together. As a result, Jenny goes to stay with Nate for the night (Ex-Husbands and Wives). The next day, Jenny walks in on Serena and Dan sleeping together at the loft. She sends a photo to Gossip Girl; but when Blair finds out, she confronts her and reminds her that no one loves her and she will stay a nobody. Right after, Rufus tells Jenny that he and Alison mutually agreed that the best decision is for her to move to Hudson and finish high school there. After hearing this, Jenny goes to see Nate at The Empire but finds Chuck there instead. Chuck, having just been rejected by Blair, is heartbroken and lonely; and the two subsequently have sex, causing Jenny to lose her virginity to him. However, she regrets it almost immediately and tells Eric and Dan. When Blair finds out, she banishes her from Manhattan and Jenny then moves to Hudson (Last Tango, Then Paris).

Season Four

Jenny makes her first appearance of the season in Easy J, when Chuck, who is warring with Blair, gets her an interview with Tim Gunn. When Blair finds out Jenny has returned she issues her a day pass; in exchange for Jenny not returning for the rest of the year, holidays included, and her leaving right after her interview without going anywhere else. However, Chuck is able to trick Jenny into coming by The Empire, leading Blair to sabotage her interview. Later that day, Jenny outs herself for sleeping with Chuck and pronounces that her leaving town was the best decision for her.

In Juliet Doesn't Live Here Anymore Vanessa advises Juliet Sharp, a girl with a vendetta against Serena, to ask Jenny for help on how to take on the Upper East Side. Soon after, in The Witches of Bushwick, Jenny comes to Manhattan to help. While there, she, Vanessa, and Juliet successfully alienate Serena from Lily, Nate and Dan, and Blair. Right after, she leaves to go back to Hudson. However, unbeknownst to her, Juliet drugs Serena to make sure her reputation is ruined for good. In Gaslit Rufus asks Jenny to come home to support Lily and Serena but Vanessa, who is worried about her reputation with the Humphrey's being ruined with what happened, reveals that Jenny was behind Serena's apparent overdose. Jenny tries to explain that they worked as a team but Rufus doesn't believe her. She then goes to see Blair, whom she tells the whole story to. Blair asks her to stay behind and help but Jenny declines, saying she needs to stay away from the drama of the UES.

Season Five

In Yes, Then Zero it's revealed that after graduating high school, Jenny moved to London to attend Central Saint Martins. While overseas, she manage to get a boyfriend and start a career as a fashion designer for one of Elanor Waldorf international warehouses.

Season Six

In the series finale New York, I Love You XOXO, it's five years in the future, and Jenny appears at Dan and Serena's wedding. It's revealed that she has a line with Waldorf Designs called J for Waldorf and that she knew for a long time that Dan was Gossip Girl.

Appearance and Style

Jenny is tall and skinny, with blonde hair that changes from short to long depending on the season. Due to her being interested in fashion, her style is often chic and well put together. In the early seasons, her clothes were more bright and colorful, but in later seasons, it changed to all black and grey. Taylor Momsen has been quoted as saying that the stylists on Gossip Girl take the styling choices of each character very seriously; down to how much eyeliner is worn. In later seasons, it's seen that Jenny is into heavy eyeliner as her eyelids are covered in it.

Personality

In the beginning of the show, Jenny is portrayed as being sweet, innocent and submissive to Blair and the older girls at Constance. However, she later changes this to challenge any authority figure to her; namely Blair, while she was queen, and Rufus. Once she moves in with the VDW's, she also shows resistance to Lily and a constant power struggle with Serena. Jenny is also known to be too trusting, according to Dan. Unlike most of the characters, Jenny has no set significant other or someone she has a true soft spot for.

Relationships (Novel)

Family

• Rufus Humphrey (Father)
• Jeannette Humphrey (Mother)
• Dan Humphrey (Brother)

Romances

• Nate Archibald (Ex-boyfriend)
• Leo (Ex-boyfriend)
• Elise Wells (Kissed)

Relationships (TV Series)

Family

• Rufus Humphrey (Father)
• Alison Humphrey (Mother)
• Dan Humphrey (Brother)
• Serena van der Woodsen (Sister in law)

Romances

• Asher Hornsby (Ex-boyfriend)
• Damien Dalgaard (Ex-boyfriend)
• Chuck Bass (One night stand)
• Nate Archibald (Kissed, former crush)

Photos

This character has a Photo Gallery!

Memorable Quotes

"We're Humphrey's, Dad. Not exactly royalty uptown." -Jenny

"You okay with that?" -Rufus

"No. But I'm used to it." -Poison Ivy (1x3)

__________________________________

"You think that you could just send me off to school with a plaid skirt and a metro card and everything would be okay?" -The Blair Bitch Project (1x14)

__________________________________

"You think you're so different and so good? Well guess what, Dan. The minute you start sending tips to Gossip Girl you're in the game with the rest of us." -All About My Brother (1x16)

__________________________________

"Actually, Blair, since I'm queen of Constace and Graham Collins wants to be my escort, I don't think I need you as my mentor anymore." -Jenny

"Jenny, you're lucky to have me. Don't push it." -Blair

"Your era's over. And so is that headband." -They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They? (3x9)

__________________________________

"I might be a bitch, but I'm not a little bitch." -The Lady Vanished (3x14)

__________________________________

"I would give it all back: the clothes, the parties, the limo rides, just for one day that felt normal." -Ex-Husbands and Wives (3x21)

__________________________________

"Despite what happened today, I can't beat you. In order to beat you I would have to become you, and I'm better than that. At least I want to be. You two used to be in love and together you were invincible. But now that you've turned against each other, it's just a matter of time until your mutual destruction. And when that happens, maybe I'll think about coming home. But for now: goodbye, good riddance, and good luck." -Easy J (4x6)

__________________________________

Hobbies / Skills

• Art - Jenny took art as a subject in school, and she was even asked to write party invitations for Blair because of her nice calligraphy.
• Constance Billard Choir - Jenny is a singer in this choir. She is seen singing "Glamorous" in Poison Ivy, and "Santa Baby" in Roman Holiday.
• Fashion Design - Jenny is first shown to be a good dressmaker when she sews her own dress for a party, making it look almost completely the same as the one in a shop. She then got hired at Waldorf Designs as an intern for Eleanor Waldorf.

Trivia

• Her first designer dress was by Eleanor and is part of what inspired her to be a designer.
• She likes marshmallows on her sweet potatoes.
• She is the only young main character to not be arrested during the show's run.

Photo Gallery