Scooter Braun apparently wasn’t prepared for Taylor Swift’s angry response to his purchase of her masters.
As Us Weekly reported, the music executive was taken aback by the anger Taylor showed in response to his $300 million purchase of Big Machine Label, which came with the master copies of Swift’s songs that she called her “life’s work.” Taylor had some past bad blood with Braun through his representation of Kanye West, who along with wife Kim Kardashian, had a very public feud with Taylor Swift. Justin Bieber, another one of Braun’s clients, jumped into the feud as well with a dig on social media that Taylor said amounted to bullying.
A source told the celebrity news outlet that Scooter Braun was not prepared for the response from Taylor, who took to Tumblr to slam the deal and the “incessant, manipulative bullying” she claimed she received at Scooter’s hands.
“Scooter has tried to reach Taylor though multiple channels,” a source told the outlet. “He was really shocked at her response. Scooter won’t be commenting publicly about this… He wants to have a private, direct conversation with Taylor.”
The incident has blown up over the course of the last two weeks into a he-said she-said exchange between Taylor’s camp and both Scooter and Big Machine Label head Scott Borchetta. Insiders said that Taylor knew about the impending sale and said she did not reach out to inquire about purchasing her masters, but Taylor’s team says they never had a chance to purchase her musical legacy.
“Scott Borchetta never gave Taylor Swift an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a check in the way he is now apparently doing for others,” an insider told Us Weekly .
Purchasing her masters could have put Taylor directly under Scooter Braun’s thumb. Another source had told Variety (via People magazine) that in order to buy her masters or purchase the label, Taylor Swift would have needed to sign a deal that would bind her to Big Machine Label or a new owner for another 10 years.
. @TaylorSwift13 Vs. @ScooterBraun : a crisis PR expert offers his take on ‘Scootergate’ https://t.co/sQS8pWu3tY
— Variety (@Variety) July 4, 2019
While Scooter Braun may have been surprised at the response from Taylor Swift and the backlash from some of her famous friends, Taylor apparently doesn’t regret speaking out. A source told People magazine that Taylor wanted her fans to know exactly how everything went down and doesn’t feel bad about it.
“She has no regrets expressing her thoughts about Scooter acquiring her music catalog,” a source told the magazine. “She wanted to share her truth with her fans.”
