A Taylor Swift lookalike has come under fire for causing chaos when she went out in public pretending to be the pop star as part of an internet prank. Ashley Leechin - who has 1.6m followers on TikTok - sported a white top, blue jeans, accessorised with a red bag, red leather cap, and signature red lipstick in a look reminiscent of Swift's Red era. With several 'security guards' surrounding her, Leechin turned up to The Grove, a popular shopping mall in Los Angeles where she was swarmed by Swifties who believed they were seeing the Anti-Hero singer in the flesh. Leechin then showed up at Downtown Disney, the shopping district of Disneyland in Anaheim, California where she repeated the prank and appeared to fool members of the public. @paolaamarcella Yall think this was taylor? #viral #taylorswift #thegrove #fyp #losangeles The two instances were part of a prank video by YouTuber Victor Galvan (Vic In The Game) who has posted videos of similar stunts, with his latest video being a "Fake Bad Bunny prank.". Clips of Leechin being swarmed by fans quickly made rounds of social media, with people criticising her for pretending to be the popular musician out in public, calling the stunt "irresponsible," especially in light of fans recently congregating outside a restaurant where the real Taylor Swift was eating. One person wrote: "You guys are really irresponsible for doing this given the recent events and the likelihood of security concerns that could arise. Also, this is disgusting!" "This is such weird behavior," another person said. Someone else added: "How is this Ashley girl gonna say she did it because other celebrities hire dupes in the past??? Taylor didn’t hire you, you did it for attention." "Taylor should sue them or get a restraining order against that Ashley," a fourth person commented. Leechin has since responded to the negative online reaction and took to TikTok where she explained she collaborated with Galvan, so wasn't the one who hired the bodyguards, and described the stunt was a "social experiment." @noitisashley13 Sorry late post. ‘A day in the life of a celebrity’ - only because it was Taylor everyone is blowing this out of proportion. If it were anyone else, it would have had a completely different outcome. This is why celebrities would hire decoys so they can enjoy their private event or quiey evening. Thank you to everyone who was so kind & sweet yesterday. Not going squash any other rumors because that is pointless. 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. #itsjustashley #vicinthegame #taylorswift "This social experiment was to live a day in the life of a celebrity to see what would happen if I went out looking like Taylor Swift and so from all the videos that you guys have seen [of] fans swarming, this goes to how far a fandom will go," she said. Leechin also said the stunt was a "positive experience," and added it "was not to be malicious it was not to mock anyone," but admitted the timing was "horrific" referring to Swift recently being swarmed by fans. "It was not a 'malicious act' by any means & I want everyone to know that words do not affect me," Leechin wrote in a recent Instagram Story. "Decoys have been hired multiple times by celebrities in the past (many more than just JLo & Ben [Affleck]). The massive amount of positivity I have received outweighs your negativity. "This really shows how far a fandom will go & the true possessiveness that some fandoms have over a celebrity." In another story, she added: "Please don’t expect me to turn off my comments, stop making content or disappear for that matter. It is called freedom of speech for a reason and you have as much air as you want to say what you need to say. "The videos surfacing are taken way out of context & I just want to say to those who have messaged me and have said very kind things, I see you and I thank you. I just hope those who are angry over speculation do not dwell on this and can eventually enjoy their day." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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At the moment it seems a grand prix does not go by without Red Bull – and their peerless linchpin Max Verstappen – setting milestones and breaking records. Such is their dominance in Formula 1 right now, winning 18 of the last 19 races, the double-symphony of the Dutch and Austrian national anthems on the podium is as much a regularity these days as five red lights going out to start the race. But Canada really did take the biscuit. Red Bull’s 100th race victory; Max Verstappen’s 41st grand prix win, equalling Ayrton Senna’s record; Verstappen brought up 250 consecutive laps led, dating back to Miami six weeks ago; Red Bull’s 10th consecutive victory, including Abu Dhabi at the end of last year. It was notable who was on the podium, too, celebrating Verstappen’s 20th win in his last 27 races. Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s mastermind-in-chief, who was unofficially celebrating his 200thF1 race win involvement, dating back to his first in Mexico 32 years ago. The man extolled, appropriately, with engineering the team’s latest RB missile on four wheels. By this season’s standards, Verstappen’s win in Montreal was far from a cruise. Qualifying on Saturday was tricky in wet-dry-wet conditions. But Max prevailed. An early safety car bunched the pack up on Sunday. But Max prevailed. Tyre wear was an issue in the cockpit with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton chasing; not on the pit wall who again oozed perfectibility. Again, Max prevailed. No 100 is a significant landmark for the team. An “incredible achievement”, as Christian Horner put it, becoming the fifth team to reach such a figure. When he spearheaded Red Bull’s involvement by taking over Jaguar in 2004, surely even he could not have forecasted such periods of dominance, up against the historic titans of world motorsport. Red Bull have won 28.1% of all the races they’ve entered in the sport as they hit a century. By way of comparison, Ferrari have won 242 races in 1060 – a hit-rate of 22.8%. McLaren’s is lower at 19.6%; Williams’ fewer still at 14.4%. But Mercedes at 44.8% beat the lot. Such was their near-decade of utter dominance – eight constructors’ titles in a row from 2014-2021 – Red Bull have some way to go before their percentage hit-rate matches the Silver Arrows. Currently, the difference is 16.7%. MOST WINS IN FORMULA 1 – 100 CLUB 1) Ferrari – 242 (22.8% hit-rate) 2) McLaren – 183 (19.6% hit-rate) 3) Mercedes – 125 (44.8% hit-rate) 4) Williams – 114 (14.4% hit-rate) 5) Red Bull – 100 (28.1% hit-rate) There are contentious points. For example, included in Mercedes’ tally is the nine wins from 1954-55, technically a different entity to the current works team. Yet on the whole, the difference is stark. But not insurmountable. It’s important to note this with caution. Predicting dynasties in sport is always a dangerous game: jump the gun on a Formula 1 forecast and the usual unpredictability of natural drama and human emotion can come back to bite you. Ferrari, for instance, have won just one drivers’ title in 16 years since their five-on-the-spin with Michael Schumacher in the early noughties. However, the outlook is particularly shiny at Milton Keynes. Red Bull have unequivocally nailed the current “ground-effect” regulations, not least due to Newey’s expertise in the area. This year is virtually sewn-up, with focus already switching to 2024 when they will be the heavy favourites once more. The next phase of regulations are not enforced until 2026. By that point, with Newey having recently signed an extension to stay, Red Bull could have secured another three world titles. It could be another 50 or so wins by that point, such is the current trajectory. And from then, the launch of their own powertrains division comes to fruition, with American giant Ford as a partner. In the constantly-shifting arms race that is Formula 1, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari and the rest – including new teams such as Audi – may well have something to say about that. Indeed, Red Bull have recently lost a key figure in engineer Rob Marshall, who joins McLaren next year. Dan Fallows similarly joined Aston Martin last year. Newey’s omnipresence is the unignorable advantage. Yet as the sun set in Canada on another victory, did the 64-year-old give Red Bull a scare? And the rest of the paddock a glimmer of hope? “My career can’t go on forever,” he said, post-podium. “As long as the team wants me and I keep enjoying it I’ll keep going. “But realistically it’s on a countdown.” When that time will be, only he knows. What is not in question, however, is the absolute supremacy of this current Red Bull machine. From top-to-bottom, they now set the benchmark. The statistics of the past allude to that; the projection for the future indicate there could be plenty more to come. Read More Max Verstappen wins Canadian Grand Prix to match F1 legend in race wins Red Bull mastermind Adrian Newey hints at retirement: ‘It’s on a countdown’ Lando Norris angry at penalty which cost him points in Canadian Grand Prix ‘It’s on a countdown’: Red Bull mastermind Adrian Newey hints at retirement F1 Canadian Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and lap times from Montreal

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