Scooter Braun Talks Justin Bieber: Singer’s Hiatus Was Braun’s Biggest Obstacle

In a recent interview with Paper Magazine, Scooter Braun talks Justin Bieber, the protégé he helped catapult into one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Braun has carved a significant amount of achievement and success for himself in the music business, but he’s perhaps most well-known for managing and mentoring the 22-year-old Grammy award-winning star, whose fame began with YouTube covers in his early teens.

Scooter Braun now runs SB Projects, which manages even more of music’s notable names: Carly Rae Jepsen, Psy, Martin Garrix, Tori Kelly, and Steve Angello, to name a few.

When asked during the interview about his biggest career obstacle, 34-year-old Braun admitted that it was during Bieber’s hiatus.

“You know, I love that kid, and I had never been through anything like that before with someone. And for a year and a half, I felt like a failure. Every single day was a battle. That was the hardest moment in my career, because it was also very personal. I learned a lot about life, about success, about people. And I’m really proud that he came out on the other side, and I’m really proud of the people on our team — we were all really like family [to] him. And no one gave up, no one budged.

“And you know, I actually received a lot of credit for the turnaround, but I would like to repeat what I said to you, which is that for a year and a half, I failed. The reason why things have turned around and why Justin is having the success that he is now is because he made the decision to change. And the person who deserves the credit is him.

The Canadian native took a step back from music after releasing his album Believe, but the hiatus was marred by legal and emotional issues, all of which were highly-publicized. His court-ordered probation only recently ended, a result of misdemeanor charges from egging a neighbor’s house in 2014.

Braun continued to explain that, in the midst of constantly butting heads with one another, Bieber called him one day and asked to meet in person. He told Braun that he didn’t want to be the person he’d become over the past year. As a result of that decision to make a real change, Scooter said everything started to improve.

Good man. https://t.co/xX9hc6h4dN

— Scott “Scooter” Braun (@scooterbraun) July 1, 2016

Bieber himself has expressed similar sentiments about his turnaround. In an honest, in-depth interview with The Bert Show last year, Bieber explained that he had to take space from everyone he cared about so that he could re-evaluate who needed to be around him and when.

“I kinda shut everybody out. I came back and I put them into positions where they needed to be. Before, it was just…whoever, whenever, because I just wanted people around,” the singer, who was 21 at the time, said. “Once I came back, I was like…’When I’m in the studio…you guys come through, I love having you around, but you don’t need to be on my bus all the time.'”

Bieber continued to talk about how his renewed faith in God helped him on the journey to making the best music he’s ever created, and he hasn’t been shy about expressing that faith more recently as he tours North America in support of his recent, game-changing album, Purpose.

In the rest of the Paper Magazine story, Scooter Braun talks Justin Bieber and other artists he’s discovered coming into his life soon after a career low, the love and gratitude for his wife and son that keep him grounded, and working with the king of controversy himself, Kanye West.

[Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP Images]