Leia & Georgie Hudson on Fame, Friendship, and Staying Grounded

By Noah Acorn for Rolling Stone

February 3, 2019

Leia Hudson is the pop phenomenon who skyrocketed to fame with her debut album, Hudson, a chart-topping, arena-filling whirlwind that left the world begging for more. But now, after a sold-out international tour and a few years of non-stop media and press attention, Leia is taking a well-earned creative breather. 

By her side—always—is her sister, Georgie Hudson (who I'm told occasionally will go by George, but only to those that she knows best). Unlike Leia, Georgie isn't a pop star, but she is famous-adjacent  nonetheless, thanks to her close proximity to the action. A college student in New York, Georgie has managed to carve out her own life in the chaos of her sister's meteoric rise and step into the instagram influencer limelight.

Rolling Stone sat down with the Hudson sisters in a small cafe near the West Village–the Bus Stop, Georgie reminded me as I made notes–where they opened up about balancing fame, friendships with some of the biggest names in the industry, and how they keep each other sane.

Rolling Stone: Leia, Hudson was an incredible breakthrough era. Your debut album blew up in a way few do. You were everywhere. Now you're on a break. How does it feel to hit pause?

Leia Hudson: Honestly? Kinda weird. But like... necessary. I spent two years in constant motion: writing, recording, performing, traveling. I had this moment on the rep tour, where I realised I hadn't had a single day to myself in months. So, I promised myself that after the tour, I'd just... stop. Recharge. And that's what I'm doing now.

Rolling Stone: Georgie, you were there for the whole ride. You weren't on stage, but you were there with Tate. What was that like for you? (Tate is Leia's goofy black German Shepard, who currently sits underneath our feet at the small table, his ears swivelling every time he sees a bike cycle by.)

Georgie Hudson: Wild. And exhausting. I'm the younger sister, but I feel like I aged ten years. (Laughs.) I joke that I'm Leia's unpaid assistant, but honestly, it's been incredible to see everything up close. Also, I was constantly in charge of keeping her and Tate fed and hydrated. She's really bad at that.

Leia: I am. It's a flaw.

Rolling Stone: You two live together in New York. That's rare—most celebrities, especially pop stars at your level, have entourages, managers, assistants, security teams...

Leia: Oh, I have security and an entire team. But I don't want to live in a bubble. Georgie keeps me human.

Georgie: I remind her that she is, in fact, a person and not just a brand. Like, she'll be talking about marketing strategies with Riv [Riven Harris, Leia's publicist, has recently been featured in Forbes as one of PR's rising names to watch], and I'll be like, "Okay, Miss CEO, but have you done your laundry this week?"

Leia: The answer is always no.

Rolling Stone: You've both become close with some big names—Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne. What's it like navigating those friendships while also keeping things normal?

Leia: It's funny because people think it's this big, glamorous thing, and sometimes it is. Like, one night you're baking cookies at Taylor's house, and the next, you're in Upper Manhattan at a party with people you grew up watching on TV. But at the end of the day, our friendships are... just that. Friendships. Taylor is one of my closest friends because she gets it—she knows what this life is like and how intense it can be. She's given me some of the best advice ever.

Georgie: And I love them, but I also remind Leia that she's not actually in a girl band with Taylor, Selena, and Gigi. Like, she'll be on FaceTime with Taylor at 2 a.m., and I'm just in the background like, "Can you both shut up? Some of us have class in the morning."

Rolling Stone: Speaking of class, Georgie, how do you balance school and... well, all this?

Georgie: Chaos. Pure chaos. I'll go from writing a paper at 3am to sitting at a table with the most famous people in the world less than twelve hours later. It's jarring. But honestly, I need school. It gives me structure. It's my version of normal.

Rolling Stone: Let's talk about dating. Leia, your love life has been a public spectacle at times. How do you handle that?

Leia: Poorly! [She laughs, and Georgie shoots her a look that seems to imply that she's being too hard on herself - a trait that I've picked up during our conversation.] No, but seriously, I've learned a lot. I used to think I could just live my life and not care what people said, but when you're in the public eye, every single thing gets scrutinized. Every text, every dinner, every interaction turns into a headline. And that pressure... it's a lot. I made mistakes in past relationships, and now I'm taking a step back to focus on being a better person before I bring someone else into my life in that way again. I'm not rushing anything.

Rolling Stone: Georgie, what about you? Are you seeing anyone?

Georgie: ...Yes.

Leia: Oooooh, here we go.

Georgie: (Laughs) I knew you'd do this! Yes, I'm in a relationship, but it's private. Very, very private. Which is honestly the best way for me. I see what Leia goes through, and I want no part of that level of scrutiny.

Leia: Smart. Stay mysterious.

Rolling Stone: Leia, have you started thinking about album two?

Leia: Yes. But I don't want to rush it. Hudson was so fresh, so raw—I need to live a little before I pour myself into another record. But I have ideas. And I know that when it's time, it'll come naturally.

Rolling Stone: Last question. If you had to sum up your relationship in one sentence, what would it be?

Georgie: She's the chaos, I'm the calm. Except when I'm the chaos, and she's the calm. It rotates.

Leia: Basically, we keep each other from losing our minds. Or at least, we try.

Leia Hudson may be one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, but with Georgie by her side, she's not losing sight of what matters. As she steps into this next phase of her career—whatever that may be—one thing is clear: the Hudson sisters are in this together.

_______

March 2019

Things were... surprisingly good.

Georgie seemed a lot more carefree now that Leia knew who her sister had been sneaking in through their apartment door, and it made a lot more sense why Azul had been so casual about letting her do so. Niall was around most days, since he was currently in and out of one of the studios near by, and Leia honestly welcomed the company for Georgie.

Taylor had been flying back and forth from New York to London, where she had currently just finished filming her scenes for Cats. Leia had seen the stage show once as a kid (and had been traumatised), so she hadn't been in much of a rush to ask to join Taylor as the blonde completed 'cat school'. She figured Taylor was thriving doing so without her there, so instead she just had been working on writing some new music.

Most of it wasn't her style, but she'd promised Camila and Shawn separately that she'd send them over a few demos if she wrote anything that would suit them. She was getting to a wits end with their tension and just hoped 2019 was going to be the year that they finally admitted they liked each other.

Things were honestly pretty good - and not just in her close friends and family.

She'd received a very honest, and somewhat dramatic, apology from non-other than Joe Alwyn himself. The man had booked in a meeting with Leia using their managers, which Leia felt was strangely professional since their lack of friendship had always been rocky anyway, and he'd asked to sit down and speak to her.

Leia and Riven had honestly been expecting to walk into some dramatic argument, but instead Joe had apologised for how he had spoken to her at that party, admitted that he let his feelings get the better of him and that he had no intention to ever act on any feelings that he may ever have buried down for Taylor. Leia knew Riven was smug about it, and while she wanted to believe him, a part of her guard was still up.

Regardless, she appreciated the gesture.

Things were probably almost great - expect from her current issue.

Leia stared down at the small bag that had been thrown into the drawer all those months ago, it's sealed contents staring right back at her as if it had it's own life force that she'd feel bad for destroying. She wasn't entirely sure why she still had it. 

Leia's fingers hovered over the small bag, her heart racing as she contemplated what to do. Eight months. It had been eight long months since Dylan had pressed it into her hand, his eyes pleading for her to take it. 

"You're very on edge... so this might help with that," he'd said, as if cocaine was some kind of emergency supply. She should have thrown it out immediately. That's what the rational part of her brain had been screaming at her to do for 243 days. And yet, here it was, nestled in her sock drawer like a ticking time bomb.

A gentle knock at her bedroom door made Leia jump, slamming the drawer shut with more force than necessary.

"Come in!" she called, trying to steady her voice.

Georgie's head poked around the door, her brow furrowed. "You okay? I heard a bang."

Leia forced a smile. "Yeah, just... organising. You know how it is."

Georgie's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't push. "Right. Well, Niall and I were thinking of ordering pizza. You in?"

"Sounds great," Leia nodded, grateful for the distraction. "I'll be out in a sec."

As Georgie disappeared, Leia let out a shaky breath. She turned back to the drawer, her hand on the knob. Just throw it out, she thought. It's that simple.

But it wasn't simple, was it? That bag represented more than just drugs. It was a reminder of how close she'd come to losing herself in the whirlwind of fame. Of how easy it would be to slip, to give in to the pressure and expectations that threatened to crush her daily.

And she had no intention to even take it. That wasn't why she was so hesitant to get rid of it - because she knew if she wanted some she'd be able to get some easily. And she definitely didn't want some - nothing in that bag called to her to inhale it at all.

Yet she couldn't do it.

Leia's fingers trembled as she closed the drawer, the small bag of cocaine once again hidden from view. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart. The truth was, she had no desire to use the drug - the very thought of it made her feel ill. But throwing it away felt like erasing a part of her past, a chapter of her life she wasn't quite ready to close.

Leia stood up, smoothing down her shirt and running a hand through her hair. She could hear Georgie and Niall laughing in the living room, their voices a comforting reminder of the life she'd chosen. Her eyes were clear, her skin glowing with health. She looked nothing like the jittery, paranoid wreck she'd seen cocaine turn some of her peers into. And she never would.

So maybe things were good - but there was that small nibble at the back of her head that there was something not right. 

An there was an even bigger nibble in her brain that it had nothing to do with her refusing to throw out Dylan's old drugs.

_____

"It's not happening right now," Taylor said, the hypothetical question that was building in her throat causing them all to turn and look at her as she drummed her fingers on the table in front of her. "But say I ever did want to... how would we?"

The room fell silent, the weight of Taylor's question hanging in the air. Leia, Riven, and Tree exchanged glances, each processing the implications of what Taylor had just said.

They were nestled in a private room at the back of an exclusive Manhattan restaurant, the kind of place where discretion was as prized as the Michelin-starred menu. The soft glow of candlelight flickered across their faces, casting dancing shadows on the rich mahogany walls.

Leia leaned forward, her blue eyes intense with concern and curiosity. "Tay, are you sure you want to have this conversation?"

I'm not ready. Not yet. But... I need to know what it would look like. If I ever decided to."

Leia tried to swallow the slight sting of the 'if I ever', and instead tried to focus on the fact that she was asking - which meant she'd at least considered it recently. 

Tree, ever the strategist, was already scribbling notes on a napkin. 

"We'd need a multi-phase plan. Controlled leaks, carefully curated public appearances, a gradual shift in your image."

"And your music," Riven added softly. "Your lyrics would take on new meaning. Every old song would be reexamined - not just from reputation but from your entire career... all the way back to pre-debut days."

Taylor's eyes widened slightly, as if she hadn't considered that angle. She reached for her glass of wine, taking a long sip before speaking. 

"I know it would change everything. That's why I'm asking now, when I'm not... when there's no immediate pressure."

"I think we should start by talking to some people who have been through something similar," Riven ventured. "No point reinventing the wheel when there are people like Hayley... Kiyoko, of course... who can offer insights."

Tree Paine nodded in agreement. 

"Riv's right. There's no need for you to navigate this alone when there are others who have blazed the trail before you." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "We can also look at past examples of artists coming out, both within and outside of the music industry, and see what worked well and what didn't."

The soft knock on the door interrupted their intense conversation, causing all four to straighten up as if they'd been caught doing something illicit. The waiter entered, expertly balancing a tray laden with their dinner orders.

"Apologies for the interruption," he murmured, his voice low and discreet. "Your meals are ready."

As the waiter retreated, closing the door softly behind him, the tension in the room seemed to dissipate. They all reached for their utensils, the clink of silverware against china filling the silence.

Riven, ever the one to break the ice, looked up from his steak with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"So, Tay," he said, his tone decidedly lighter, "I hear you've been keeping tabs on the latest fan theories with this soft album vibe change. What's this I hear about five holes in a fence?"

"Huh?" Leia asked, confused.

"It seems my Instagram posts have convinced fans that I've you've been leaving clues and a countdown to an announcement album by... well, by posting pictures of fences with exactly five holes."

Leia nearly choked on her pasta, barely suppressing a laugh. "Wait, what? How did I miss this?"

Tree rolled her eyes good-naturedly, spearing a cherry tomato with her fork. "It's all over Twitter. Apparently, every photo we've posted recently on Taylor's account has had a descending number of things - palm trees, hearts... and now holes in the fence. The Swifties are taking it as a sign that the seventh album is coming."

The group dissolved into laughter, the earlier weight of their conversation temporarily forgotten.

"They're not wrong," Taylor laughed, "they're right about the album but the theory... yeah, that's wild."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment as they all tucked in, before Riven's eyes widened as he clicked on to an article that had popped up on his laptop notifications.

"Jeez, Tree, have you seen this?" Riven murmured, passing his laptop across to the ginger woman who let out a low whistle, her smile dropping slightly as she looked at the screen. Taylor and Leia looked over at the two, wondering what Riven had read that had drawn their attention away.

"What's up?" Leia asked, leaning forward and trying to crane her neck round to see it. Tree turned it round, allowing Leia to read out the heading for the benefit of Taylor. "'Seventeen A-list celebrities have been involved in iCloud hacking scandal'... oaft, that's rough."

"Oh my gosh, that sucks," Taylor murmured, remembering other times she'd seen her industry peers have things hacked and published online without their permission. It hit a little bit different now, especially after the past few years. "Anyone we know?"

"A few names I recognise, but none of our friends..." Leia told her as she looked at the list of names, her eyebrows shooting up at the last three on the list. "Never mind - Shawn is on here. Seems like Shawn's just had some music leaked but nothing personal, and seems a few more of the names of those that have been hacked have been redacted already."

"Their PR must have gotten a heads-up," Tree added, her eyes looking through her own phone as she googled it on the device. "Maybe promised some exclusives to keep their clients names' out of the reports."

"Looks like whoever has hacked them hasn't released all the info they're claiming they've got," Riven added, turning his laptop back around and reading from it. "Illegal, but likely that most of the names on this list will cough up some money if there's anything damning on there."

Leia felt a pang of sympathy for Shawn and the others affected. She knew all too well how violating it felt to have private information exposed without consent - ever since that photo of her and Lauren... well, you know.

"Poor Shawn," she murmured. "I should text him later, see if he's okay."

"Speaking of security," Tree interjected, her tone shifting to business mode, "we should discuss tightening security protocols for all of you - including Georgie too, Leia. This kind of breach is becoming more common, and we need to stay ahead of it."

Riven cleared his throat. 

"I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we should probably prepare for the possibility that this could affect us. Even if none of us were directly hacked, there's always the chance that..."

"That someone we know or have interacted with was," Tree finished, her expression grim. "We should start damage control protocols, just in case."

Leia felt her stomach twist. She thought of the countless messages, photos, and videos stored on her own devices. Nothing scandalous, but still - the idea of strangers rifling through her personal life made her skin crawl.

If anyone ever got access to the messages between her and Taylor...

"What can we do?" she asked, looking between Tree and Riven.

"First things first," Riven said, his fingers flying across his laptop keyboard. "We need to change all passwords, enable two-factor authentication on everything, and do a thorough sweep of our cloud storage. Anything potentially sensitive needs to be moved to secure, offline storage immediately."

Tree nodded in agreement. "I'll start reaching out to our contacts, see if we can get any inside information on what exactly was leaked and who else might be affected."

As they discussed strategy, Leia couldn't help but notice Taylor's uncharacteristic silence. The blonde was staring into her wine glass, lost in thought.

Leia reached out, gently touching Taylor's hand. "Hey, you okay?"

Taylor blinked, coming back to the present. She gave Leia a small, tight smile. "Yeah, just... processing. This kind of thing always brings back memories, you know?"

Leia nodded, understanding it. Leaked videos, leaked calls, doctored and faked photos... yeah, no wonder that brought up some bad memories for her girlfriend.

"We've got this," Leia said softly, giving Taylor's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Whatever happens, we face it together."

____

"If the fans didn't know a new era was coming, they certainly will now," Leia teased, smiling as she looked at Taylor through the mirror. The blonde was twirling in the centre of the room, everyone laughing as they continued to get ready for the iHeart Music Awards.

Taylor's stylist was frantically trying to get her to pause for just a second so that they could sort some of the sequins that were stuck on the back of her dress, while Tree was standing beside Riven and scrolling on her phone. 

Leia smiled as her make-up artist gave her the all clear, the singer spinning around in her chair to admire the pink tails of Taylor's ponytail. She'd insisted on colouring the ends of her hair with pink hair chalk that she'd found online, and there wasn't much anyone could do to persuade her otherwise. Leia thought it was cute–Tree thought it was perfect as a tease to the vibe of the new album.

"Remember," Tree reminded the blonde as she didn't take her eyes off the phone in her hands. "You're not here to announce new music - you're here to accept your award, smile and thank the fans and tell them that if something is coming, they'll be the first to know."

Lover. That's what was coming.

Taylor had played her almost all of the songs already - some that Taylor were 100% sure about putting on the tracklist, and a few that would end up in 'the vault', which was what Leia had earned was what Taylor nicknamed the songs that were often not on the final cut. Georgie was elated when she found this out, begging Taylor to let her hear unreleased songs on an almost daily basis.

Taylor never said no.

"Ashley's performing later, in case you hadn't seen that," Riven added to the room as he took Leia's phone, holding it up and motioning her to smile for the photo that he had promised he would send to Adrian, who had in turn promised his daughters that they'd get to see what Leia was wearing before she walked on to the red carpet.

"Avignone?"

Even Taylor and Tree turned to look at Georgie in disbelief. Leia turned to look at her sister, blinking a little as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Now, why the hell would that Ashley be on stage at an award show? Halsey, you idiot."

Georgie rolled her eyes, her cheeks flushing slightly. 

"Oh, right. Duh. I knew that."

"Sure you did," Leia teased, reaching out to ruffle her sister's hair. Georgie ducked away, swatting at Leia's hand.

"Hey! Don't mess up my look. Some of us aren't blessed with a team of stylists, you know."

"You've literally just used my entire team? We've all just watched you? They are still here?"

The sisters continued their playful bickering, their voices rising and falling in a familiar rhythm. Taylor watched them with an amused smile, reminded of her own sisterly bond with Austin.

Their bickering was interrupted by Tree clearing her throat pointedly. "If you two are quite finished, we have some logistics to go over."

Riven nodded, pulling out his tablet. 

"Right. So, in attendance tonight we have the usual suspects: Ariana, Selena, Shawn..."

As Riven rattled off names, Leia found herself zoning out, her gaze drifting to Taylor. The blonde was absentmindedly twirling a strand of pink-tipped hair around her finger, her eyes distant. Leia made a mental note to check in with her later, wondering if the earlier conversation about coming out was still weighing on her mind.

"...Camila, Halsey - not Ashley Avignone, Georgie - of course," Tree continued, picking up where Riven left off. "Oh, and—"

Tree and Riven's voices suddenly cut off in unison, their eyes meeting over their respective devices. The abrupt pause in their litany of names was jarring, causing Taylor, Georgie, and Leia to look up in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked, her brow furrowing as she took in their expressions.

"It seems there's been a last-minute addition to the guest list," Tree began, her voice carefully measured. "One that... well, it's unexpected, to say the least."

Tree and Riven exchanged a loaded glance, a silent conversation passing between them.

Riven cleared his throat, his usual confident demeanor faltering slightly. "It's, uh... it looks like Dylan's on the list."

The room fell silent, the name hanging in the air like a storm cloud. Leia felt her heart skip a beat, her mind immediately flashing to the small bag still hidden in her drawer at home. Why was this all coming back up literally over seven months since she'd last seen him?

"Dylan?" Georgie repeated, her voice sharp. "As in, Dylan O'Brien? The guy who..."

"Fucking hell, Georgie," Riven snapped, not meaning to nip but instantly regretting it once he saw the look on Georgie's face. He softened, his voice dropping to a gentler tone. "Not that Dylan, George."

 "Oh," Georgie murmured, realising what other Dylan they possibly would be talking about. 

"Yeah," Leia cut her off, not wanting to get into it. "Dylan Redcrown."

The room fell deathly silent, the name hanging in the air like a thundercloud. Taylor's face went pale, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the arm of her chair. Seems like a lot of their demons were peaking their heads up this week.

"Right, it's one award show and I probably won't even see him," Leia said, although it sounded more like she was reassuring herself than anyone else. "Besides, it's a fully televised event and I'll be sitting with the one person that the cameras will be focused on more than anything else - no pressure, Tay - so let's be realistic. How much harm can he really do at an award show?"

A hypothetical question that was about to be tested.

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Note:

Hey all! I've changed Dylan's faceclaim to Drew Van Acker... currently going through a bit of a pretty little liars rewatch and here's where I've ended up lol. Also if the photo looks a bit weird it's cause i had to edit a diff background on it for like story purposes hahaha.

Let me know what you think of the chapter... and soon we'll see just what Dylan can really get up to in one night...