Teen country star Taylor Swift is at the center of a discrimination scandal after posing for a photo while embracing a man with a swastika on his shirt.

The photo was taken at fellow singer Katy Perry’s birthday party last weekend. Guests were encouraged to wear white and decorate their clothing with paint when they arrived at the event.

But the man in the photo, identified by multiple sources as model AJ English, took the decorations a little too far. According to TMZ, he claims the swastika started out as a simple “X” but became more “perverted” as the night went on.

Swift’s rep claims that she was unaware what was painted on the man’s shirt, and that she posed with “about 100 people that night … she doesn’t know who this guy is and she didn’t realize what was on his shirt.”

Some bloggers also slammed Swift for the appearance of the letters “JH” on her dress, which some claimed stood for “Jew hater.” But Swift also arrived at the party with friend and fellow singer Julianne Hough, who displayed a “TS” on her clothing.

English apologized to Swift via microblogging site Twitter, saying he did not know the singer before the party and that he regretted dragging her into the chaos.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift do some late night shopping before having dinner at Ruth & Chris’s Steak House in Beverly Hills. Okay they’re too cute I either hate them, or I’m jealous – one of the two.

BG

Actor Taylor Lautner flew to Chicago at the special invite of Taylor Swift. After their passionate scene in the movie “Valentine’s Day,” both Taylors wanted to renew their acquaintance. Lautner flew with his father and spent two nights with Taylor Swift at her hotel. Lautner was given a tour of the windy city by one of Swift’s bodyguards, and then was taken to watch Swift play a sold out performance at the Allstate Arena where Lautner watched lovingly from the wings. After spending such a short time together, Swift flew to Minneapolis to continue her tour, and Lautner flew back to Vancouver to finish filming his role in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”

Bauer Griffin

Jay-Z doesn’t think his protege, Kanye West, deserved to be vilified for ambushing Taylor Swift at Sunday night’s MTV VMAs.

“Of course it was rude because it was her moment, but that’s the way he really felt,” Jay-Z, 39, tells BBC Radio 1. West, 32, interrupted Swift’s speech for her best female video award to opine that Jay-Z’s wife, Beyonce, should have won for “Single Ladies.”

Jay-Z goes on on, “I think it was rude, but the way they’re treating him … He’s on the cover of every paper. He didn’t kill anybody. No one got harmed.

Jay-Z admitted his pal’s actions were “inappropriate at the time,” but justifies the diss.

“He’s just a super-passionate person,” he said.

On Tuesday, Swift, 19, announced that she’d forgiven the rapper after he reached out to her.

“Kanye did call me, and he was very sincere in his apology, and I accepted that apology,” she told ABC News Radio.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Taylor Swift says she would meet with Kanye West, who famously interrupted her during Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards.

“Sure,” she said on ABC’s The View Tuesday. “I mean, he has not personally reached out or anything.”

Asked about the incident, Swift, 19, said, “I think my overall thought process went something like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I won. This is awesome. Don’t trip and fall. I’m going to get to thank the fans. This is so cool. Oh, Kanye West is here! Cool haircut.’”

Then as he spoke – telling audiences that Beyonce deserved to win – Swift said she thought, “‘What are you doing? … Ouch.’ And then, ‘I guess I’m not gonna get to thank the fans.”

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She said she was appreciative of all the support she received.

Said Swift, “All the artists came and showed me love and all the people Tweeting about it … all the fans … I never imagined there were that many people out there looking out for me, defending me so I didn’t have to.”

As for West, 32, he told Jay Leno Monday night that he’s taking “some time off” to figure out the reasons behind his behavior.

“I am a celebrity and that’s just something I’m going to have to deal with,” he said.

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Couldn’t just let poor Taylor Swift accept the award!!

Apparently Kanye drank a bit too much during the VMA’s and stormed the stage when Taylor Swift was trying to accept the award for Best Female Video. Kanye took to his website last night to “aplologize” to Taylor, this is what he wrote:

“I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!”

What’s funny, is when it actually came time for Beyonce to accept an award for Video of the Year, she let Taylor Swift take the stage to “finish her moment”. Aww, wasn’t that nice.

MTV VMA host Russell Brand has a message to Kanye West.

“You can’t make a pretty girl cry,” he said on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show Monday.

Sources tell Usmagazine.com that Swift, 19, got teary after West, 32, stormed on stage and rudely interrupted her Best Female Video acceptance speech during Sunday’s show, insisting that Beyonce deserved to win.

Was West out of line?

Brand tried to empathize with the rapper, telling Seacrest that “in the past I’ve made mistakes.”

“I think he’s already apologized, hasn’t he?” he added. “Beyonce is great, and I think he wanted to make a point about her.”

Still, he added, “Taylor Swift’s a young kid … she’s a young girl.”

Brand — who insisted West is a “nice bloke” — said he hopes people won’t make too much of a fuss over the whole thing.

“We’re just people; we all do things that are a bit silly sometimes,” he said. “Calm down; no one died.”

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