Leighton Meester Discusses Her Tough Upbringing in Marie Claire April 2012 (Photo Gallery)

“Gossip Girl” actress Leighton Meester revealed new details about her hardscrabble upbringing in the April 2012 issue of Marie Claire. Both of Meester’s parents have served time in jail; she even spent her first few months after birth in a halfway house before living with her grandmother.

Despite these troubles, you won’t hear Meester bash her childhood. “You can take what is handed to you and use it as an excuse to mess up,” she said. “But I’ve always handled what was given to me by life. I consider myself lucky. I was never lied to. And I

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