Joss Stone has reportedly been axed as the face of Gap because of her affair with an older man. .
Sources claim the teenage soul singer was dropped by the fashion giants because she was romancing 25-year-old music producer Beau Dozier.
The smitten star sparked controversy across America when she moved into her lover's Los Angeles home when she was just 17 - below California's age of consent.
It meant Dozier could have faced charges of statutory rape if he was sleeping with Joss.
Although the star is now 18, she was recently snapped smooching Dozier, which didn't impress Gap bosses, according to a Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper.
.An insider revealed: "People take things such as the age of consent extremely seriously in America.
"It is all good and well to have glamorous celebrities endorsing the clothes but the backbone of Gap's business is in small towns in Middle America where people are very, very conservative, especially in the Bible Belt.".
The source added: "As a result, I think they have made it pretty clear that Stone's association with the company is over". Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams will replace the teen singer in the ad campaign, while Gap bosses have denied Joss's relationship with Dozier was the reason she was dropped.
so ****ing stupid. so what if she was 17? every individual has a different level of maturity. joss seems very mature for her age, and anyways, its not like he was 50 for gods sake-she was 17 and he was 25..and shes not even 17 anymore, shes 18! its things like this that make me see america as totally ridiculous.
so ****ing stupid. so what if she was 17? every individual has a different level of maturity. joss seems very mature for her age, and anyways, its not like he was 50 for gods sake-she was 17 and he was 25..and shes not even 17 anymore, shes 18! its things like this that make me see america as totally ridiculous.
I agree, but technicalities such as these are blown way out of proportion. As long as shes not 15 or younger it's fine and dandy. From 17 to 18 is no real change other than age.
I think the GAP's decision is a bit ridiculous. SJP was the star of a show that definitely would have offended those in middle America far more than a girl moving in with her boyfriend. I personally think that Joss didn't generate the buzz they were expecting so they came up with a lame excuse to drop her.
I heard Michelle was going to do the GAP ads around a month ago.. so I don't really know if they dropped Joss for Michelle just because of this.. maybe it sped the process (?).. who knows... but I read Michelle was going to do the ads around the time Destiny's child announced their split.
Will Joss's love affair cost her the Gap millions?
Teenage singing sensation Joss Stone has risked her new multimillion-pound contract as the face of the Gap fashion chain by setting up home with her older lover.
Joss, still only 17 and said to be worth £5 million, has caused a storm of controversy in America by moving in with 25-year-old millionaire music producer Beau Dozier, son of legendary Motown hit-maker Lamont Dozier.
Under Californian law, Joss is under the age of sexual consent, which means her new boyfriend could face a potentially ruinous prosecution for so-called "statutory rape".
Gap, which dumped former Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker in favour of the Devon-born soul singer, guards its clean-cut reputation. And in California, where anyone under 18 is not deemed old enough to consent to sex, the law is strictly enforced.
Since Joss moved from her parents' 200-year-old cottage in the Devon village of Ashill into her lover's luxurious villa in the upmarket Los Angeles suburb of Encino, internet chatrooms have been ablaze with the controversy.
On one site, a mother, who described herself as a fan, said: "I would not be comfortable with my 17-year-old living with a man of 25."
Blissfully unabashed
But Joss is blissfully unabashed. She has proudly been displaying a "promise ring" - an American token of the exclusive nature of their relationship, worn on her wedding finger.
And on the sleeve notes of her latest album she gushingly wrote: "Beau, I love u for u. U are truly blessed in many different ways. Thank u for creating so many beautiful things. Truly u are amazing! Thank u for sharing your heart with me. I love u. I love u. I love u."
Of Beau's father, she added: "Thank u for agreeing to work with me, you're amazing! Mostly thank u for creating your son xxx"
Lamont Dozier, 64, is a bona fide pop legend who was songwriter-in-chief to the Tamla Motown founder Berry Gordy. With brothers Eddie and Brian Holland, he wrote scores of hits including Baby Love for Diana Ross and The Supremes, Heat Wave and Nowhere To Run for Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and Reach Out I'll Be There for The Four Tops.
Joss's parents are said to be deeply concerned at the new development - particularly as she is still deemed a minor under Californian law. Last October Joss fired her mother Wendy - who had given up her own career to help her daughter navigate the showbusiness minefield - as her manager.
Now her parents feel they have also physically lost touch with their daughter. And they fear she may be getting in with a "fast set" who could cause her years of emotional upset.
Love at first sight
Joss was introduced to the Doziers last year by her agent Steve Greenberg. Lamont has been acting as her coach and mentor and cowriting most of her current album, Mind, Body And Soul, with Joss and Beau.
For Joss, the meeting was love at first sight, although her heavy work schedule and the fact she was still living in England meant their relationship began as a long-distance love affair. But now she has moved into Beau's luxurious home.
Speaking recently about their relationship, she said: "He came up with this one lyric, 'I've never seen the word love so personified as I do with you.' And he looked at me when he said it. And I was like, 'Oh my God!' He killed me with that.
"To me it was love at first sight. But I don't know about him. I don't really get like that with people. I'll say, 'OK, let's write a song, then can I go home?' But he's very special. He loves me and I love him."
Last night Lamont Dozier admitted he was aware of Joss's 'underage' status, but added: "She's a British citizen and the legal age there is 16."
'It's the real thing'
He said: "In the beginning Beau and Joss talked mostly on the phone as she was always travelling. They built up slowly. They were friends for a long time before it went further. They are very much in love now. It's the real thing - they are crazy about each other."
Asked directly if he was concerned about Joss being too young to be involved in a sexual relationship with his son, Lamont replied: "I mentioned it to Beau and said, 'Well, this girl is only 16, man,' and he was only 23 at the time. But he wasn't thinking that way. Beau has a certain magnetism about him. Marriage is a while off yet. Beau and Joss are both workaholics." A spokesman for Joss's family said: "She's not living or staying with her boyfriend - she's in the care of his family." Despite the husky maturity of her voice, it is easy to forget the simple fact that Joss is still only 17. And a sheltered 17 at that. As one concerned fan, herself a mother, observed on the internet chatroom: "I hope Joss knows what she's doing."
Interracial dating is accepted in the US, it's not like it was in the 50s.
as someone who has dated interracially in the US, even in the most 'liberal" parts of the country it is not accepted by all, and many feel quite free to make their disapproval known.
i know from friends who live in the south and midwest that interracial marriages/rellationships in those areas, particularly black-white couples, meet up with open resistance fairly often.
they get used to it, and keep their heads up, of course.
I'm glad they are replacing Joss Stone, though I hope it's not because she moved in with her boyfriend! That just seems stupid, but it makes for a more interesting news story than what probably happened-her ads didn't go over as well as planned. I just don't get her appeal, her music is ok, but she doesn't have the image or name recognition to be the face of Gap. I never paid any attention to any of her ads. SJP was a much better, classier choice in my opinion. Honestly, I had not stepped foot in a Gap store in 10 years and when SJP's ads came out, I thought what the hell -- if it's good enough for SJP then it's good enough for me! Silly I know, but the way she put together her outfits for the ads (or whoever put them together) and the way she wore them, it suddenly looked like something I would wear. Now I go to the Gap for basics like T shirts, jeans, etc.
I don't think putting this Destiny's Child girl as the face of Gap is going to be such a great choice either.
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Wow, maybe I need to drop the Gap (not that I shop there all that often, so I wouldn't be too heart broken)
They drop SJP b/c she's too old, and now Joss b/c she's dating someone who's too old! IMO they had a sure thing with SJP, she was perfect... I doubt Michelle Willams will create the buzz they hope for
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The GAP people are just going crazy signing and dropping people It's really not their business who Joss dates but I do like Michelle Williams I'm happy to see that she is getting some attention on her own
I personally think that Joss didn't generate the buzz they were expecting so they came up with a lame excuse to drop her. 
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