Topics: Taylor Swift, Celebrity, US News, TikTok, Disney World, Viral
Taylor Swift fans are seeing red.
It’s after a well-known celebrity impersonator, Ashley Leechin, was part of a viral prank, with the 30-year-old dressing in public as the ‘Bad Blood’ singer.
Despite admitting that she wasn’t the musician, many Swifties have felt the stunt ‘went too far’ with the TikTok star later responding to the controversy.
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Unless you are on Swifttok, you might be unaware of Leechin’s recent prank, which saw her dress as the Grammy Award winner at Disney.
At the time, the actor was filming a video with YouTuber Victor Galvan, also known as Vic In the Game.
Dressed in a red leather cap, white top, jeans and shades, the TikToker looked eerily similar to Taylor Swift - and even convinced a few fans that she was Swift.
However, Leechin did reveal that the whole thing had been an innocent joke, with many fans seemingly elated to be part of it.
In fact, some were even heard chanting ‘Ashely’ – as she is well known throughout the fandom for her uncanny resemblance.
After the video was posted on social media though, some fans had bad blood with the celebrity impersonator.
Some even accused the internet personality of ‘going too far’, dubbing the stunt ‘gross’ – especially after Swift was swarmed by fans over the weekend, whilst attending a private rehearsal dinner in New Jersey.
On TikTok, one even wrote: "Taylor is not a character, she's a real person. That's super creepy."
However, Leechin has hit back at criticism and defended her reputation in an August 21 TikTok.
Reacting to the online hate, she told her 1.6 million followers: "This video was not to be malicious."
"I don't follow Taylor's every move, so with everything that happened, I was definitely late finding out a lot of that stuff,” she explained, referring to Swift’s fans gate-crashing over the weekend.
However, the TikToker insisted that she’d had a good experience with fans.
"I had such a positive experience in person and then, of course, online you get a whole different beast."
The mum-of-two went on to add that she would not accept Swifties trolling her, as so had done following the prank and went on to discuss the ‘possessive’ nature of some fans.
"Just a friendly reminder, please do not bully any of my friends. You can bully me because it seems to be an okay thing to do in the ‘swiftie' fandom but please do not bully my friends because they were incredible to work with."
"There's a difference between a Taylor Swift fan—you can love her music, you can love her as a person, you can look up to her—and then there are Swifties," she revealed on TikTok, adding: "They are completely two different groups."
Leechin later told UNILAD: "This was an idea that was presented to me weeks in advance and everything was handled through my management team. I though it would be a fun social experiment to be involved in."
"I did not pay for security and to be part of this and simply collaborated with another creator.
She added: "This was not my idea, I simply [was] the talent."
UNILAD has also contacted Victor Galvan for comment.
