Crossword Genius

Version of totalitarianism LA star rejected as fake (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

imitation

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'version' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'of totalitarianism la star rejected as fake' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
'as' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found in the leftover letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for imitation that I've seen before include "Simulated" , "Forgery" , "Sincerest flattery maybe" , "A copy of an authentic item" , "take-off's called for!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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