X Factor' Judge Allegedly Tweets Endorsement of Ron Paul -- Then Deletes It (UPDATED)

Nicole Scherzinger, X Factor judge and lead singer of the pop girl group The Pussycat Dolls, allegedly sent out a tweet late last night that caught the eye of celebrity gossip hounds:

Now it's not usual for entertainment stars to give their two cents on politics, as we are all aware of the long list of celebrities who came out to stump and bank for Barack Obama in 2008. But Scherzinger's tweet seemed to be a breath of fresh air for the many who support Ron Paul and his more libertarian critique of our current government.

But wait.

If you go to Scherzinger's official Twitter account right now, you will see that the warm words for Paul are no where to be found. Without any explanation for the tweet's disappearance, many may wonder if the star's handlers advised Scherzinger to avoid voicing support for a candidate that many have criticized as being outside the mainstream.

GossipCop notes that singer Kelly Clarkson endorsed the Texas Congressman for president last month and saw a huge bump in album sales. The 192 percent album boom, however, did not come without any controversy. Clarkson was skewered by many fans and Twitter followers who were unsatisfied about the congressman's positions on same-sex marriage and abortion, several followers even made the accusation that Paul is a "racist."

Clarkson later told an angry Twitter follower that “I have never heard that he’s a racist? I definitely don’t agree with racism, that’s ignorant.” Clarkson has stated that she supports Paul based off his emphasis for more limited government, and told one critic that, “I love all people and could care less if you like men or women. I have never heard that Ron Paul is a racist or homophobe?”

We'll have to wait and see if such critics were the reason for Sherzinger's tweet retraction.

UPDATE (6:45 pm)

Sorry Ron Paul fans, Billboard and Rolling Stone are reporting that Scherzinger was one of three musicians who had their Twitter accounts hacked early Wednesday morning to tweet pro Ron Paul messages. Scherzinger along with punk rockers Rise Against and No Doubt all tweeted similarly-phrased Ron Paul endorsements on official Twitter accounts, which were deleted by each artist after several hours, have been confirmed to Billboard.com as hacks. All three artists are signed to Interscope records, a possible clue for any investigators.

The most shocking of the tweets at the time would have had to come from Rise Against, a Chicago-based foursome known for liberal political activism and lyrics.

Rolling Stone reports that No Doubt later posted that they had no political endorsements at the present time.

Don't worry Ron Paul fans, you still got Michelle Branch and Kelly Clarkson.