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Penn Badgley's net worth currently sits at $8 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. However, according to the actor, there was a time in his life and Hollywood career when he was "near broke." The Gossip Girl actor opened up about his previous financial struggles during the Wednesday, April 23, 2025 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast.
He said that he earned enough to become the breadwinner during his teenage years, but his financial independence changed. He told podcast host Alex Cooper that before starring in the role of Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl, he was getting tired of television. Penn Badgley also opened up about not being particularly eager to join the show, but when asked what changed his mind, he said:
"Well, I was close to broke. Although that was—I was looking forward to figuring that out... The future was a real unknown, and I think stakes [were] high."
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However, he clarified that the money was just one of the things that made him change his mind about Gossip Girl, saying that a "few key people" encouraged him to do it. Living in New York for the show was also another reason that sweetened the deal for him.
Penn Badgley ended up joining Gossip Girl, which originally aired on The CW in September 2007. The actor appeared in all six seasons, a total of 121 episodes, of the series, which aired until 2012.
Penn Badgley is now worth $8 million, nearly two decades after Gossip Girl, and with a new show on the horizon
From being "close to broke," as Penn Badgley admitted during the latest April 23 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, his fortune is now estimated to have reached $8 million per Celebrity Net Worth. It comes around 18 years after Gossip Girl first aired on television.
Before his Gossip Girl days, Badgley mostly worked on television, with appearances in shows such as The Young and the Restless as Phillip Chancellor IV and Do Over as Joel Larsen. He also took the lead as Owen Gregory in the drama The Bedford Diaries and made several other appearances in the TV shows such as The Mountain, The Brothers García, Daddio, and more.
Landing the role as Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl appeared to be a turn to the positive side for Penn Badgley's career. As he said in the Call Her Daddy podcast, he experienced some tiredness about acting on TV before the hit The CW series. After Gossip Girl, he mostly acted in movies, including Forever Strong, Easy A, The Paper Store, and Here Today.
His only appearance on TV after Gossip Girl was in the two episodes of The Slap before he returned to star as Joe Goldberg on the Lifetime/Netflix dark romance thriller You. He starred in the show for its first four seasons, which aired from 2018 to 2023. Penn Badgley is also set to return in You season 5, which is premiering on Netflix on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
Catch Penn Badgley's return as the stalker/serial killer Joe Goldberg on You season 5 on April 24, only on Netflix.
