Taylor Swift’s team speaks out about Scooter Braun drama in new doc: ‘Extremely painful situation’
So long, Scooter Braun.
Taylor Swift’s team addressed the pop star’s drama with the newly retired music manager in the new Discovery+ docuseries “Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood.”
The doc, which is now streaming on Max, examines Swift and Braun’s beef that’s gone on for years, although neither star participated in the project.
Swift’s team put out a statement that was included at the end of the documentary.
“None of these men will ever be able to take anything away from Taylor’s legacy as a songwriter, singer, director, philanthropist and advocate for artists’ rights,” the statement began.
“Taylor has completely moved on from this saga, and has turned what started out as an extremely painful situation into one of the most fulfilling endeavors of her life,” her team added.
The documentary came out June 21 and is split into two episodes: “Taylor’s Version” and “Scooter’s Version.” Each episode examines the opposing sides of the argument between Swift, 34, and Braun, 43.
Third-party witnesses, journalists and legal experts participated in the doc.
Swift has been at odds with Braun ever since he purchased Big Machine Label Group, which owned the master recordings of her first six albums — from 2006’s “Taylor Swift” to 2017’s “Reputation” — in a $300 million-plus deal in 2019.
The “Hits Different” singer allegedly wasn’t aware of Braun’s business deal at the time, prompting her to declare that she would rerecord her original music.
She’s now signed to Republic Records at Universal Music Group, and has released her “Taylor’s Version” of four of her first six albums.
After Braun bought Swift’s music catalog, she released a lengthy statement on Tumblr and said she was “grossed out” by Braun’s move.
“Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” she said in 2019. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
She also blasted Big Machine Records owner Scott Borchetta.
“When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter,” she wrote. “Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”
Braun finally shared his side of the story in an interview with Variety in June 2021.
“I regret and it makes me sad that Taylor had that reaction to the deal,” he said. “All of what happened has been very confusing and not based on anything factual. I don’t know what story she was told. I asked for her to sit down with me several times, but she refused. I offered to sell her the catalog back and went under NDA, but her team refused.”
Less than a week before the documentary came out, Braun announced that he was retiring from music management. This came after he parted ways with some of his biggest clients including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato last year.
Earlier this month, however, reps for both Grande and Braun confirmed they were working together again. (He announced his retirement days later.) “Ariana Grande and HYBE, led by CEO Scooter Braun, look forward to continuing their long-standing business partnership and pursuing creative opportunities in Weverse and REM Beauty,” the statement read, per People.
Adding, “Grande in this new chapter will continue to be managed exclusively by Brandon Creed/Good World Management.”
