Taylor Swift look-alike Ashley Leechin is coping with some unhealthy blood from on-line haters after receiving backlash for posing because the singer in public.
“It was a prank,” Leechin, 30, advised her followers by way of TikTok on Monday, August 21, after making a video with YouTuber Vic the Sport by which Leechin dressed as Swift, 33, and took pictures with followers. “I collaborated with a YouTuber. The social experiment was to dwell a day within the lifetime of a celeb.”
Leechin is a TikToker with over 1.6 million followers, who has turned heads for years after being mistaken for the “Exile” singer on multiple event. The lady’s placing resemblance apparently made it straightforward for Leechin to trick some followers whereas out and about at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California, and different Los Angeles hotspots on Sunday, August 20.
The prank, nevertheless, didn’t sit nicely with Swift’s on-line neighborhood, with one TikTok person commenting, “Taylor will not be a personality, she’s an actual particular person. That’s tremendous creepy.” (Swift was in New Jersey celebrating pal Jack Antonoff‘s wedding ceremony to Margaret Qualley because the stunt was unfolding on the West Coast.)
Leechin defined on Monday that she had a “very optimistic expertise” carrying Swift’s signature purple lipstick and pretending to be the pop star regardless of being swarmed by crowds.
“On-line you get an entire totally different beast,” she confessed, noting, “This video was to not be malicious. This was to not mock anybody.”
Leechin additional identified that she appears like “inside this fandom there’s a possessiveness over Taylor,” which the social media star described as “harmful.” Leechin mentioned that by impersonating Swift she noticed how intense among the followers may grow to be.
In her TikTok caption, Leechin insisted that “everyone seems to be blowing this out of proportion” and if she’d dressed up as “anybody else, it will have had a very totally different end result.” She proceeded to thank the “variety and candy” followers she met in the course of the joke outing, most of whom she claimed have been completely OK that it was her and never the actual Swift.
“Only a pleasant reminder, please don’t bully any of my associates. You’ll be able to bully me as a result of it appears to be an okay factor to do within the ‘swiftie’ fandom however please don’t bully my associates as a result of they have been unimaginable to work with,” Leechin added.
Leechin shared a follow-up explainer by way of Instagram on Tuesday, August 22, telling her followers that she is “an actor” who places on a “costume [and] make-up” to behave as if she’s Swift.
“You will have this concept in your head that I’m going out every single day with purple lipstick and lip sync to Taylor’s music 24/7. This isn’t the case. I’m a full-time mom who has a life exterior of social media,” she wrote. “You’ll be able to create no matter narrative you need about me however your phrases don’t have an effect on me. Up to now I’ve tried my hardest to slot in with this fandom … a lot that I even tried calling myself a ‘swiftie’ & becoming a member of in on the Easter egg hunts. That was till I noticed what it meant to need to be ‘accepted.’”
Leechin revealed that she “can assist Taylor without having any group to outline that” and confirmed that she’s going to “proceed to indicate [her] love and assist for Taylor and her music” with or with out the Swiftie stamp of approval.
“I’m not going to make you want me & I’m actually not going to make you perceive me … I’m simply going to proceed to dwell my life simply as I’ve been doing and I hope you may too. 🖤,” she concluded.
Join Us Weekly’s free, every day publication and by no means miss breaking information or unique tales about your favourite celebrities, TV exhibits and extra!
Vic within the Sport has not publicly addressed the backlash, however the YouTuber has a historical past of constructing prank movies by which folks pose as celebrities in public.
