Taylor Lautner Comes Out on People Cover – Just a Hoax

Speculation about Taylor Lautner's orientation has been making the rounds ever since he first appeared in the first “Twilight” film, even though he's been linked to some of the hottest stars out there. As of today, he's still straight.

Yesterday, a photo of Taylor Lautner apparently gracing the cover of People magazine emerged online and spread like wild fire on social networking websites.

The photo had the teen heartthrob on the cover of the January 7, 2012 issue, under the huge headline “Out & Proud.”

It left no room for doubt that Taylor was actually gay and was coming out on the cover of the mag, as many other male stars have done before him.

“Tired of rumors, the Twilight star opens up about his decision to finally come out,” a smaller caption promised.

“I’m more liberated, and happier than I’ve ever been,” Lautner himself was quoted as saying.

As female “Twilight” fans (team Jacob) were completely taken aback by this piece of “news,” Gossip Cop reached out to People and a Lautner representative to see whether there was any truth to it.

As it turns out, the photo is actually a fake and no, Taylor is not gay. Neither is he coming out on the cover of People.

“It is NOT a real People preview. A rep for the magazine confirms to Gossip Cop exclusively that it’s 'absolutely fake',” the e-zine writes.

Moreover, fans have already identified the photo on the so-called cover: it's been lifted from a shoot Taylor did back in the day when he was promoting “Eclipse.”

The same goes for the sidebar, which dates from 2006.

“FYI: The Brad Pitt/Carnie Wilson sidebar is stolen from a May 2006 People cover,” Gossip Cop writes.

Taylor himself has not said anything about the latest controversy but, seeing how it turned out to be more of a storm in a teacup than genuine “controversy,” there's no need for him to do that now.