Leighton Meester used to take great pride in her mother, Constance Meester, telling everyone not to judge her for her past run-ins with the law. “My mom lived through a lot before I was born, and I can’t judge her on that,” she told Cosmopolitanin May 2009. “She and my dad are good people… Look, I could’ve turned out a lot worse.” But their relationship took a turn for the worse in 2011 when Leighton sued her for misusing the funds she had been sending to help her brother Lex, who had been dealing with health issues.
Per TMZ, Leighton used to wire her mom $7,500 a month to help care for Lex, but Constance allegedly used the money on beauty treatments and other frivolous expenses. Constance even claimed that Leighton promised to give her $10,000 a month, but the actor denied it. When her mother threatened to sue her for not paying, she decided to file a lawsuit to counter the allegations.
One year later, the court sided with Leighton, with the judge ruling that there was no legally binding agreement that required the star to pay her mother, per ABC News. She was not contractually obligated to give her mother any money for any reason, thus clearing her name entirely.