Gossip

The state of New York is suing Donald Trump for $40 million, claiming his self-titled investment school was a scam. The lawsuit claims that students at Trump University paid up to $35,000 to attend classes and be mentored by instructors handpicked by Trump—but that the classes were merely sales pitches for more expensive classes, and that Trump never chose a single teacher. Some students who were allegedly promised a meeting with Trump were instead given the chance to pose next to a life-size cutout of the real estate tycoon. “No one, no matter how rich or popular they are, has a right to scam hard-working New Yorkers,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Trump denied the charges, implying that President Obama was responsible for the lawsuit and calling Schneiderman “a political hack looking to get publicity.”

Comic book fans were dismayed last week to learn that Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in the latest reboot of the superhero franchise. The Oscar-winning director and star of Argo will play the Caped Crusader as he teams up with Superman in a 2015 sequel to this summer’s Man of Steel. Many fans were aghast at the casting; of the 100,000 tweets sent in the first hour after the announcement, 71 percent were negative. More than 80,000 people have signed an online petition to remove Affleck from the role, arguing that he is “not intimidating enough for the role.”

Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are never, ever getting back together—at least not judging by the country singer’s behavior at this week’s MTV Video Music Awards. As the One Direction singer and his bandmates appeared on stage, Swift was caught on camera mouthing the words “shut the f--- up.” The 23-year-old took another swipe at her ex while accepting an award for the song “I Knew You Were Trouble,” which she wrote about the British heartthrob. “I also want to thank the person who inspired [this],” she said as she held the award, “who knows exactly who he is, because now I got one of these!”

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