Chace Crawford Laughs Off Ed Westwick Romance Rumors

Chace Crawford has laughed off report he's romantically involved with his Gossip Girl co-star Ed Westwick - branding the rumors "funny."

"It's kind of funny," Crawford tells British newspaper The Independent. "I guess some people assume there's a seed of truth to it. People think where there's smoke, there's fire."

Crawford was also romantically linked to JC Chasez, though both vehemently deny gay rumors.

He says he wasn't sure who started the rumors — and doesn't care.

"I just don't even want to speculate on that. It's just one of those things that rolls off my back," Crawford says. "There's not one seed of truth to it, so it'll just go away in the end."

Crawford, 23, also revealed that he can sometimes get uncomfortable with Gossip Girl's racy undertone.

"Is that a weight on my conscience?" Crawford says. "Well, yes, I think it is. I come from a moral background, and I can see the power of the show, and imagine my old school teachers cringing, or my grandparents thinking, 'Oh, my God,' when they see me, say, having sex on a barstool. But you have to remember, this is not a reality show. It's supposed to be pure entertainment."

He insists the show isn't "making an instruction manual telling [teens] how to drink and do drugs, or have sex. We're just laying out how it is.

"My character is very conflicted, and even in the episodes where he's having sex then dumping girls, there's often regret," Crawford says of his role as preppy stud Nate Archibald. "You know, there are repercussions to certain sorts of behavior that come full circle."