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Taylor Swift is, without a doubt, one of the most famous women in the entire world. A self-proclaimed farmer’s daughter from Pennsylvania, she has built herself into the best-paid women in the American music industry. Nearly every teenager across the globe can quote you a line from one of her songs and she’s got a hefty line of ultra-famous ex-boyfriends handsome enough to convince anyone she’s a top Hollywood prize. Plus, her choruses are super catchy and her videos make anyone believe in love again. But with a huge celebrity profile like this, she’s got to be hiding something. No one stays on top of the world without stepping on a few hands.

Is all of her fame due to her talent? Is she really that much better of a singer and a songwriter than anyone else in the industry? Some say it isn’t so. Over the past few years she’s been caught in quite a few larger than life stories that make her out to seem like she’s something between a brilliant prodigy child and a pathological liar. Regardless of her intentions, her public scandals have definitely brought more attention to her music and her brand. Make no mistake about that! Here is a list of 15 times Taylor Swift was caught lying.

15. Her Mom Hates South America

Ok ok, so she never said that her mom hated South America, but she did say that the reason she’s never toured there is because her mother won’t let her travel to “third world countries”. Which is not only pretty offensive, it’s also a lame excuse - come on Taylor, you’re an adult now. Quit blaming your parents for your personal life choices! After these rumors emerged, Taylor’s spokespeople denied that there was any truth to this claim and she sent out a well-received “I love Brazil” tweet. Regardless, Swift has to this day never traveled to South America except for one show she did in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Smells like an awfully strong publicity stunt to me. It’s getting hard to filter fact from fiction!

14. The Apple Scandal

All right Taylor, so what exactly happened with Apple? She wrote a post on Tumblr in 2015 calling out to Apple to give more money to the artists whose songs they were selling because all music was free for a three-month trial period. She refused to make 1989 available and so in record-breaking time, Apple changes all of their policies to adhere to her wishes. She was revered as a hero in the independent music scene and once again was on top of the world. It seemed like Taylor was the good guy here and Apple to bad guy, but then a few months later they got together to film a commercial for them. All of a sudden, they were working together for the common good (or the common green) and everyone was the best of friends. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

13. Drake Romance

Recently, dating rumours have sparked between the two musicians following the release of a photo showing them snuggling up at Drake’s 30th birthday party. Drake even introduced her to his mom! Sounded pretty convincing to us, and as much as we hate to admit it, we’d all love to watch a cat fight erupt between Taylor and Rihanna. Upon further investigation, it looks like the root of their relationship isn’t their love for each other, but their love for music. Nice try, Tay Tay. A new album is in the works showcasing both of their talents. A rap/hip-hop/country/pop hybrid genre? Why not? It’s 2016 after all.

Ok, this makes sense. But then, we found out that Drake was showering Taylor with extra-special gifts. What is going on? Are they just trying to mess with us?

12. She Was In Love With Jake Gyllenhaal

Taylor and Jake dated for about two seconds in Hollywood time, but conveniently it was exactly the right amount of time for Taylor to write a song about him and how he crushed her fragile 21-year-old feelings. She even went as far to say that she lost her virginity to him (which remains to be seen) and wrote a pretty gushy song about it called “All The Way”. I guess she waited around for him to show up to her 21st birthday party and he never did. She made him out to seem like the worst guy in Hollywood, but doesn’t that have to happen to every girl at least once in her early 20’s? To this day, Jake denies leading her on. Who’s telling the truth?

11. Her Sudden Admiration for Kendrick Lamar

In the fall of 2014, Taylor let the world know that “Backseat Freestyle” was her absolute favorite song at that moment. She filmed herself lip synching it in her car right after the release of 1989, when everyone was watching her. What makes this story hard to believe is that Taylor Swift is the highest-paid female musician in the industry, so we know for a fact that she stays on top of what’s “cool”. At this point, Lamar’s hit was nearly two years old, and she just started getting into it? Not likely. Surprise surprise, a few months later the two collaborated and produced the Grammy award-winning “Bad Blood”. She made it all seem like a simple twist of fate, but there were definitely master puppet strings at work there.

10. She Filmed a Video with Cecil the Lion

Remember Cecil the Lion, that beautiful creature with the luscious black mane who was killed by a hunter in 2015? His death caused an uproar that led to his species of lion being registered as endangered to prevent further damage to Zimbabwean lions like him. Right after his death, Taylor released the video for “Wildest Dreams” and it featured a lion that looked just like Cecil. Coincidence? We think not. She even noted that proceeds from the video were to be donated to the African Parks Foundation of America. Since the lion was so close to her in the video, it’s much more likely that he was a product of CGI or at least a domestically trained animal. What a great way to build us up and bring us back down again!

9. Calvin Harris Got Dumped After Getting a Massage

We all know Taylor likes to live in a fantasy Romeo and Juliet romance world. Most artists do! They met at the 2015 Brit Awards and were absolutely smitten with each other. We all thought they made a great couple, but this relationship didn’t quite finish with a happy ending. Well, not for Taylor anyway. She reportedly broke up with him after he was caught leaving a cheap Hollywood Thai massage place. Supposedly her happy ending turned into his happy ending (wink wink) and she wouldn’t have any part in it. He straight up denied the insinuation even though there was photographic evidence of him being there. She refused to respond and coyly liked his Twitter posts while remaining silent. Turns out he just likes to get a good deal.

8. John Mayer Broke Her Heart

Taylor released “Dear John” as a tribute to her romantic relationship with John Mayer. They dated and supposedly he broke her heart into a million tiny pieces. This song was her attempt to hurt him and to publicly slander him, which she did very well. “Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?” is a lyrical reference to their large age gap of 12 years, which is a lot for a young girl of 19. Mayer responded by telling Rolling Stone that he felt terrible and didn’t do anything to deserve that kind of treatment. Turns out they only dated for about three weeks, so the chance of him really wreaking that much havoc on her emotions is pretty slim. It was a great way to grab his attention, though.

7. Kanye West Talked S*** Behind Her Back

Probably the biggest Taylor Swift scandal of 2016 was when Kanye West wrote misogynistic lyrics about the songstress and she played it off like she’d never spoken to him and was absolutely shocked. Kanye proudly rapped, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex” and “I made that b**** famous”. A statement from Swift stated she had no idea he would use the word “b****” but shortly after, Kanye’s wife Kim Kardashian West posted SnapChat videos of them communicating before the release of his song Famous. In the video, he’s shown (well not him, exactly, but an incredibly life-like wax figure) lying next to Kardashian West and Swift in bed. It seems like West was trying to gain her consent but she publicly slandered him after the release of the song. Who’s telling the truth here?

6. She was a Farmer’s Daughter

This sounds great on paper when you’re a young country singer trying to make it big, but this is a total lie. Ok, so she did spend a bit of time growing up on a farm when she was a kid but it wasn’t your typical home with chickens, cows, and horses. Her and her family lived on a quaint little Christmas tree farm in a well-to-do Pennsylvania suburb. Her parents worked in finance and actually bought the farm from a client. Obviously their money wasn’t coming from evergreen sales. Swift claims that the holidays are her favorite time of the year and this must be part of the reason. Imagine 15 acres of land filled with snow and decorated Christmas trees? That could inspire anyone to write a love song.

5. Learning Guitar was an Accident

Every artist wants to claim their craft is seamless and talent exudes from them effortlessly. It’s the sign of a true prodigy, isn’t it? Taylor insisted she learned to play “by accident” by picking up her guitar, learning three chords through chatting with the family handyman, and writing tons of songs. I don’t know if you’ve every tried to play the guitar before, but no one has ever learned it by accident. The real story is that their “handyman” was a hired guitar teacher and would work with Taylor for six hours a week until she got those three chords right. Which sounds way more believable. Even if she isn’t some obscure prodigy child, she can still write some pretty catchy tunes. There’s no shame in blood, sweat, and tears!

4. She Never Bought a Mansion Next to Calvin Harris

Another story churned out of the rumor mill was that Taylor Swift really likes buying houses next to her crushes. She’ll deny it to this day, but the facts simply don’t lie. So, it came as no surprise when insiders in the Beverly Hills real estate market let us know that she’d purchased a $25 million home just a few blocks away from then-love interest Calvin Harris. When this information came out, she actually denied it to the public. So, of course we believed her. Why would she make something like that up? Seems pretty silly. When TMZ looked into it, the house was in fact not bought by Swift herself, but by a third party business with her Nashville address. Suspicious? We think so, too.

3. Katy Perry’s On Again, Off Again Friendship

Since 2008, there have been countless photos of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift looking like total besties at awards shows and Hollywood parties. Plus they tweeted each other non-stop saying things like “You’re the prettiest” and “I love you”. Cute!! What’s better than two beautiful American darlings becoming the best of friends? It seems like they’d have a lot in common with being young and talented and constantly touring. However, in 2014 Taylor did an interview with Rolling Stone and referred to an unnamed woman competing in the music business as her “straight-up enemy” that she now has to avoid. Realistically, the only person it could possibly be is Katy Perry and in response, the next day Perry tweeted “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing...” So what is it – friends or enemies??

2. Harry Styles Was The Love Of Her Life

In the fall of 2012, Swift and Styles embarked upon a romance affectionately dubbed Haylor by tabloids across North America. They were cute just long enough to exchange plane necklaces, take a few adorable Christmas photos, and get into a snowmobiling accident before they broke up. With the release of 1989, Swift came out with two songs that are supposedly about her relationship with Styles. One is called “Out of the Woods” apparently in reference to their wintertime crash, and the second is simply titled “Style”. Get it? Harry Styles? Post breakup, Taylor described her relationship as “anxious” because she never knew which direction they were headed in next. After she released her songs, Styles was adamant that he was “just someone to write break-up songs about”. But doesn’t it seem like that’s the same reason for just about everyone she dates?

1. Jason Alexander Discovered Her

The only thing cooler than being a female indie musician is being a female indie musician discovered by George Costanza, right? For a while, the general belief was that Jason Alexander “discovered” Swift while he was directing a music video for Brad Paisley’s song “Online”. She actually was one of the tall, thin, blonde dancers backing him up on the stage. Truth be told, she actually was in the video but she let him continue the facade that he was the person who brought her to fame and fortune long past its due date. Turns out, the video was shot in 2007, which was after her debut album was released (2006). This in itself proves that the story wasn’t true! Taylor, when will the lies stop?

Sources: radaronline.comnerdist.com