'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb/xAAgEAABAwQCAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEAAURIQZBEhNx/8QAFAEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABP/EABcRAQADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAjH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AJWHyUWuYyqIw2ZPoSvxUyA3s43g57H2pKRerk5IdWbzdUlSiSEvkAb6GdClKJUNirLk/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 2007–2012 TV show Gossip Girl was fascinating to the public. Gossip Girl explored wealthy teens making trouble on New York’s Upper East Side. There were plenty of main characters on display, but supporting roles also played a large role.
One of those was Sawyer Bennett. Chanel Maya Banks, a.k.a. Chanel Farrell, played the role. Although Sawyer made very few appearances, her role in the social tensions of Season 3 had a lasting effect.
She appeared in three episodes: How to Succeed in Bassness, They Shoot Humphreys, Don’t They? and The Debarted. Here, we will delve into her character.
Chanel Banks in Gossip Girl Season 3
Chanel Maya Banks played Sawyer Bennett on Gossip Girl. She showed up in several episodes as Jenny Humphrey’s minion while Jenny fought to become Queen Bee in Season 3. Even though Sawyer wasn’t at the center of things, she mattered because girls like her brought out Constance Billard’s cutthroat social games.
With Sawyer, you see how people always chase power, fight to keep their spot, and try to climb higher. Her self-serving actions, masked as loyalty, capture the transactional nature of life on the Upper East Side.
Sawyer's betrayal and Jenny's fall
Once Jenny takes charge, Sawyer eagerly enforces her rules. She insists people wear certain brands and sit in certain places, copying Blair’s style in Gossip Girl. The real twist comes when Eric van der Woodsen, frustrated with Jenny’s arrogant leadership, decides to take her down. Sawyer quickly joins Eric’s plan.
During the public humiliation, Sawyer helps by throwing yogurt at Jenny. This moment shows just how weak and selfish friendships are on the Upper East Side. Friends turn against each other instantly for their own benefit.
Behind the betrayal: Eric's plot
Sawyer’s betrayal wasn’t petty jealousy; it was an even darker conspiracy with an insider, Eric van der Woodsen. Once one of Jenny’s best friends, Eric was sick of her rules, and here was his chance to take her down publicly.
He used Sawyer playfully in the infamous yogurt-throwing incident of Gossip Girl. This is important because it demonstrates that Jenny was brought down not by an external rival but by a rebellion within her party, and therefore how fragile her rule was.
Actress Chanel Maya Banks's acting life
Chanel Maya Banks (also known as Chanel Farrell) hasn’t been working as an actress for very long, but she certainly made a big impression. She appeared on Gossip Girl as Sawyer (three episodes in Season 3) throughout 2009, did an episode of Blue Bloods for CBS, and played Shelly in Joel Schumacher’s Twelve, both during the spring of 2010.
Yes, she has been known by a different name for various projects (Chanel Maya Banks/Chanel Farrell), but these titles do illustrate the breadth of her early career, bouncing between genres and television to film work.
Chanel Banks' personal life
In late 2024, Gossip Girl actress Chanel Maya Banks disappeared. Her family noticed quickly and called the police. Next, the news spread everywhere, on TV and all over social media.
Fans worried and started guessing what had happened to her. Days went by with no answers. Then, one day, cops found Chanel safe in Texas. Everyone felt relieved for a moment. Then everything changed once and forever, in Gossip Girl.
Chanel Banks came forward and explained the truth about her disappearance. She was not kidnapped or missing. She disappeared on purpose. Chanel revealed that her family controlled her mentally and emotionally. They restricted her personal freedom. So, she herself decided to escape the situation and take charge of her own life. The story was no longer simply a matter of disappearing; it was a young girl becoming a fighter for her dignity.
More interesting characters in Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl has a lot of fun characters. Serena van der Woodsen is pure of heart but not sure what to do. Blair Waldorf is smart, stylish, and ambitious. The cool writer Humphrey feels like an outsider. Nate Archibald is eager and clueless about love as well as most other things. Chuck Bass is wealthy and complex.
Jenny Humphrey has fashion fever, and she needs to find a way to stand out. Georgina Sparks is there to “cause drama.” Vanessa is sensible. Lily van der Woodsen is a loving, classy mom who’s trying to keep the family intact. There’s Dorota, Blair’s kind, loyal minion who provides the show with both humor and heart. It’s fun to watch their friendships, crushes, brawls, and secrets.
Ultimately, Gossip Girl demonstrates that friendship is often used as currency in the Upper East Side social game in exchange for status, access, and visibility. The Sawyer–Jenny relationship is also bound by this transactional logic: loyalty is not permanent; positions change when advantages change. And it is this reality that sharpens the conflict in Season 3.
Trending
Meanwhile, we can say Chanel Maya Banks’ story packs a heavy dose of irony. She acted in Gossip Girl, a show where drama, power plays, and people trying to break free run the show. Back then, it was all fiction, a TV world full of secrets and schemes. Now, years later, Chanel finds herself in the real headlines. She’s dealing with the same stuff in her actual life. The overlap between her TV role and her real problems is hard to ignore.
This powerful parallel between the fictional world she inhabited and the reality she describes has elevated her story from a simple celebrity story to a profound social conversation.
Reply
