Ever since GQ published their profile on Hope Hicks, everyone has wondered just who, exactly, Donald Trump's press secretary is, and why she looks so damn familiar. As it turns out, Hope Hicks was The It Girl : the cover model for a 2005 Gossip Girl spin-off novel that starred Jenny Humphrey.
The It Girl was just one of many high points in Hicks' modeling career, standing alongside Ralph Lauren ads. After taking a turn into the PR world, Hicks was hired to help Ivanka Trump's business, then undergoing an expansion. She also did some street style modeling for Ivanka's fashion line. It was during this point that she met not-yet-presidential-candidate Donald Trump.
GQ's Olivia Nuzzi reports that "Hicks had never worked a day in politics when she was told to pack her bags for [Donald Trump's] campaign trail." Cosmopolitan says she's currently "the only young woman in his inner circle."
As The It Girl, Hicks was cast as Jenny Humphrey, two years before Taylor Momsen stepped into her heels. Cecily von Ziegasar's second novel series followed Humphrey's life after her expulsion from the Constance Billard School for Girls. She arrives at Upstate New York's Waverly Academy and immediately sets about wriggling her way into the school's most attractive clique.
So, if you're a Gossip Girl fan who has been scratching her head since Nuzzi's write-up came out, trying to figure out where you know Hope Hicks from, check your bookshelf for The It Girl.
