Penn Badgley was nearly pushed to believe Steven Tyler was his father in a “remarkable prank” pulled on him by Blake Lively — one so “impressive” that several people, including his “team of representatives” and his own mother, were involved.
The You star shared the story on last Thursday’s (May 23) episode of his Podcrushed podcast prior to welcoming fellow prankster B.J. Novak onto the show.
“I get an email, just like, you know, totally, like, ‘Oh, there’s this press item we’re trying to kill, but just so you know, somebody thinks or thinks he’s your dad,” he revealed. “I don’t remember the phrasing, but I just remember… [I] didn’t even think about it for a moment because who would in their right mind think that that’s true?”
He noted that his publicist followed up a few days later to warn him that the rumor wasn’t “going away,” and he was told that “Steven believes it.”
At that point, Badgley was “still not remotely thinking that it’s true,” but then received a call from his manager and publicist, who claimed that Tyler was “adamant now.”
“At this point, I of course don’t think it’s true, but I’m just like, how can Steven Tyler believe this?” he recalled thinking.
Eventually, his Gossip Girl co-star Lively proposed that he call his mother for her intel.
“And my mom is so not an actress,” Badgley shared. “So not a prankster, either. And she’s upset. And I’m like, ‘Mom, why are you upset?’ And then she takes a pause that is like, you know, the pause that sold me. And she goes, ‘Why do you think we moved out of Maryland?'”
Badgley admitted that “for something like five to seven seconds, [he] was speechless and [his] world was rearranging.”
“I was like, ‘Are you fucking kidding me? I am Steven Tyler’s son?'” he said.
However, he ultimately figured out what day the whole ruse was taking place: April Fool’s Day. Plus, he said that Lively “couldn’t keep a straight face.”
While Badgley may not be one of the “Sweet Emotion” singer’s kin, Tyler is a father of four: Liv, Mia, Chelsea, and Taj, per People.
Gossip Girl is streaming on Max.