Quote from an interview with Leighton Meester http://leightonmeester.blogg.se/:
And now she's [Olivia Paslermo] on The City! "I haven't seen that show, but I did ask Cecily [von Ziegesar, the Gossip Girl author] if Blair was based on Olivia, and she said she wrote the books way before Olivia was in New York City, and she basically made Blair up. But people do say I look like Olivia Palermo. And also, that I look like Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights."
So can we conclude that Cecily did not know Olivia Palermo? I think it's actually the press that made the Olivia Palermo/Blair Waldorf comparisons.
And now she's [Olivia Paslermo] on The City! "I haven't seen that show, but I did ask Cecily [von Ziegesar, the Gossip Girl author] if Blair was based on Olivia, and she said she wrote the books way before Olivia was in New York City, and she basically made Blair up. But people do say I look like Olivia Palermo. And also, that I look like Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights."
So can we conclude that Cecily did not know Olivia Palermo? I think it's actually the press that made the Olivia Palermo/Blair Waldorf comparisons.