Do you remember the two conspicuously silent token minorities on Gossip Girl? One is Asian, the other is black, and they say nothing. Sometimes the black girl will give funny looks or the Asian girl will giggle at her cell phone (as is expected of all Asian girls), but that's about it. Well now one of them has left and there are conspiracies afoot. Nan Zhang, who plays the oddly-named Kati Farkas, recently left the show abruptly, reportedly because she enrolled at Brown University during the writer's strike, and failed to tell anyone . Good for her! (Though, Providence! Sorry!) Buttttt, people on the set are whispering that there was a more sinister reason for her sudden departure.

"Sources" are blaming Leighton Meester, who plays bitchy (former) queen bee Blair Waldorf. Rumors are hopping around that Meester decided that she didn't like Zhang, so she had her axed. She's so method! The show's rep sticks with the original, less sensational story: "I think [Zhang] may have had another opportunity come up, but I know she was big into school. She was really sweet, but she went back to school." How terribly refreshing to hear that a model/actress on a show like Gossip Girl is "big into school." Of course, she is Asian. [Gatecrasher]