Fake Taylor Lautner Cover

A supposedly leaked cover of People magazine's January 7, 2012 issue outing Taylor Lautner is actually nothing more than a halfway-convincing Photoshop job, according to Gossip Cop.

The cover, which features the "Twilight" hunk "out and proud," is "absolutely fake," a rep for the magazine told the gossip patrol site.

On the doctored cover, Lautner is quoted as saying that he's "more liberated, and happier than I've ever been" after finally "announcing" his homosexuality.

"Tired of rumors, the 'Twilight' star opens up about his decision to finally come out," the cover claims.

The image also features two sidebar photos - featuring Brad Pitt and Carnie Wilson - that are ripped directly from a May 2006 People cover.

Celebrities like Russell Simmons, however, were duped by the viral cover.

The hip-hop mogul tweeted that he was "proud of Taylor Lautner for his bravery and his courage," but upon realizing that the image was a hoax, he rescinded his initial statement, writing instead that he was "disappointed that people would joke about someone coming out about their sexuality. Let Taylor Lautner be whoever he wants to be..."

Lautner, 19, is no stranger to rumors about his sexuality. In November, he told Parade magazine that "it's tough" to avoid reading about himself: "It's definitely impossible to avoid stuff about me sometimes, but it's pretty important to try.

"It's very rare that things are true about yourself that are on the Internet," he said at the time. "It's just sad sometimes. So you definitely want to stay away from it as much as possible."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/taylor-lautner-people-magazine-cover-claiming-twilight-actor-gay-exposed-a-fake-article-1.997274#ixzz1hkk4oZuc