The television show Gossip Girl is not all teenage sex in limousines, classy drinking at posh hotel bars, fashion internships with elite designers, and xoxo-ing. Behind the scenes, a compelx machine is at work, where diva personalities are "managed," drug abuse is "handled," and eating disorders are ignored. (No quotation marks on that one.) And while the tense relationship between Leighton Meester (Blair) and Blake Lively (Serena) is played out in the press like their fictional frenemy relationship on the show's Gossip Girl blog, almost entirely ignored is the backstage backstabbing going on among the guys.

Ed Westwick (Chuck), Chace Crawford (Nate), and Penn Badgley (Dan) all seemingly get along in non-fiction. Westwick, with his not so secret nasal sports, and Crawford are in fact best friends, and their living together and ubiquitous enjoyment of each other's company has led to ample evidence for gay rumormongering. Badgley, the real life and television boyfriend to Lively (well, they broke up, for now!), is friendly with the other two, but less so.

But just because the guys get along … doesn't mean their Hollywood handlers do.

Crawford's publicist is Evelyn Karamanos at WKT (clients: Eliza Dushku and Channing Tatum), who's been adept at squashing her client's gay rumors with "sightings" of him enjoying the company of ladies.

Westwick's publicist is Carrie Gordon at 42 West (clients: Mac guy Justin Long and Penelope Cruz).

And Badgley's publicist is Craig Schneider at Pinnacle PR (clients: Sean Faris and actress-something Leelee Sobieski) Leslie Sloane Zelnik at BWR (clients: Ms Lively herself, as well as Chris Rock and Reese Witherspoon).

Naturally, all three want what's best for their clients. Which explains why, as one PR industry source claims, when what would eventually become this month's Details cover was being formulated, Crawford's rep Karamanos insisted her client star on the cover by himself. Why such selfishness? Because this type of thing boosts visibility, and helps convince the entertainment press there is a breakout star among the ensemble cast, and that gives leverage when it comes to renegotiating contracts for higher dollar figures as well as booking new projects. It also explains why Meester and Lively usually star on covers (Seventeen, Gotham) by themselves. In fact, that's one of the argument's we're told Karamanos used.

(It's unclear whether Karamanos butted heads directly with the other guys' reps.)

But the request for solo treatment wasn't flying at Details, we're told, which insisted on having all three guys on the cover. So after some back and forth, Karamanos acquiesced and agreed to let Crawford shoot Details, but only if her client stood front and center. Funny, because as Gawker pointed out, that's just the way he appeared on the cover of Out.

We asked Details publicist Meredith Goldblatt about the situation. She responded: "The rumor is completely false. The idea was always to have all three on the cover. None of the publicists asked that the cover feature just one of the guys, and no one asked for a particular position. There was no drama on the set and the guys genuinely got along."

We also called and emailed Karamanos' office; we're waiting on a response. (She's on a photo shoot without cell reception. Perhaps for a solo Chace appearance?) And just for kicks, we put a call in to Out chief Aaron Hicklin to see if he had any drama with his Gossip Girl cover shoot; we're waiting to hear back. (He's in a meeting.)

Update: While we're still waiting for our phone calls to be returned, one interesting tidbit: Back when Crawford's rep Karamanos was handling the March cover of Out (shot some time in Dec. 2007 or Jan. 2008) that also included Westwick and Badgley, rather than insisting Crawford get solo treatment, we're told by an industry insider that she demanded the exact opposite — that Out guarantee Crawford not be pictured solo on the cover. Perhaps because that would make it look like Crawford was one big homo all by himself?