Leighton Meester’s Mom: Facts About The Woman Who Gave Birth To Her While In Prison

Leighton Meester rose to fame for the popular teen drama ‘Gossip Girl.’ Before her big break, however, she had a rough upbringing. Find out all about her mom, Constance Meester, and her difficult past.

Despite all of Leighton Meester‘s great career and personal success in life, living wasn’t always easy for the Texas native. Here we breakdown everything to know about the Gossip Girl star’s mother, Constance Meester, and how her tussles with the law lead to a troublesome relationship with her daughter.

Constance Meester had a troubled history Leighton Meester (Broadimage/Shutterstock).

Before having Leighton, Constance helped her boyfriend at the time, Douglas Jay Meester (Leighton’s father), smuggle marijuana from Jamaica to the U.S. via a drug ring. These actions later landed her in prison, along with Douglas, and Leighton’s maternal aunt and grandfather.

Leighton was born on April 9, 1986 in Fort Worth, Texas, and Constance was able to give birth in a hospital outside of prison and nurse her baby for a few months in a halfway house before giving up Leighton to live with her paternal grandparents. Constance was released 16 months later, while Leighton’s aunt Judy became the first woman under U.S. Marshal’s 15 most wanted after she escaped from prison.

Even with her very different childhood, Leighton still had a somewhat normal upbringing in Marco Island, Florida, participating in productions at the local playhouse. “She’s very gifted, she’s very talented, she’s very intelligent,” Constance said of her daughter in an early Us Weekly profile in 2008, per New York magazine. “I love her dearly.” She added, “Anything that her mother and I did that was questionable occurred before she was born.”

A mother-daughter feud & legal battle Leighton Meester (John Shearer/Invision/AP/Shutterstock). » Read Full Article