Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato dispute Taylor Swift accusations against Scooter Braun
Taylor Swift knew speaking out against Scooter Braun would have reverberating effects — and it has.
Her scorching blog post slamming Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta, her former label’s honcho, for selling the company and the masters of her first six albums to Braun, whom she accused of "manipulative bullying,” has people taking sides. Not a shock since she called out some high-profile people — including Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian — in the post, and Braun has a long client list, including Bieber, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande. (West formerly was a client.)
Swift’s beef is that Borchetta allegedly refused to let her buy back her masters without re-signing with Big Machine, so she switched labels. But she said that Borchetta selling the label to Braun is her “worst case scenario” because Braun allegedly encouraged Bieber and West “to bully me online,” referring to the infamous leaked phone call, posted by Kardashian in 2016.
Bieber, Lovato and Cara Delevingne are among the latest to speak out. Here’s what people have been saying:
Justin Bieber: Braun discovered Bieber and helped him amid his struggles, so there’s a lot of love between the men. Because of that, Bieber supported his manager in a social media post directed at Swift. While he started off apologizing to Swift for the “hurtful Instagram post” with West, he said Braun didn’t have anything to do with it and that Braun actually told him not to joke about Swift like that. He went on to say that Swift should have reached out before posting online, and “neither Scooter or i have anything negative to say” about her. He ended with, “I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and [defame] someone i loves character thats crossing a line.”
Hailey Baldwin: Apparently Bieber’s wife posted a defense of her husband against Swift, writing “gentleman” on his Instagram post.
Demi Lovato: Almost a year after Lovato’s near-fatal overdose, she’s trying to make a comeback — and Braun has been part of that. He signed her as a client in May. So she spoke out to defend Braun, saying, “I have dealt with bad people in this industry and Scooter is not one of them.” She said he’s a “good man” and asked Swift to “stop ‘dragging’ people or bullying them. There’s enough hate in this world as it is.” She added a second post that said she didn’t care what people had to say and that her loyalty is to her team.
Cara Delevingne: The actress and model is a friend of Swift’s and took up for her in a post directed at Bieber and his wife, Hailey Baldwin. She wrote, “I wish you spent less time sticking up for men and more time trying to understand women and respecting their valid reactions. As a married man, you should be lifting women up instead of tearing them down because you are threatened.” She added that she doesn’t think Bieber knows what an apology is. The issue goes beyond the photo of Bieber, West and Braun “and you know that,” she wrote. Delevingne’s post said, “Love you Taylor Swift” on it.
Halsey: The singer and songwriter is also with Swift. Halsey wrote that she “always insisted to write my own music” and Swift was a reason why. She defended Swift wanting to own her song rights. “It turns my guts that no matter power or success a woman has in this life, you are still susceptible to someone coming along and making you feel powerless out of spite.”
🦋 @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/1iI2tCr8my
— h (@halsey) June 30, 2019
Katy Perry: The singer, who just made nice with Swift, reportedly signed a petition calling for Swift to re-release her first six albums. A comment attributed to Perry said, “I stand with Taylor. Stay strong my friend.”
Katy Perry signed and commented on a petition on “Make Taylor Swift re-release her 6 albums.” #WeStandWithTaylor pic.twitter.com/2qpYuoYKA5
— Taylor Swift News (@tswiftnewskh) July 1, 2019
Todrick Hall: The singer, who had been formerly managed by Braun, spoke out against him in a series of posts. “I am saddened by this news, but not shocked,” he wrote. “[Braun] is an evil person who’s only concern is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego. I believe he is homophobic & I know from his own mouth that he is not a Swift fan.” And that was only the start. He also called out Lovato and Bieber and Braun’s wives for their anti-Swift social media posts.
For those asking, I left Scooter Braun a long time ago...I am saddened by this news, but not shocked. He is an evil person who’s only concern is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego. I believe he is homophobic & I know from his own mouth that he is not a Swift fan.
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) June 30, 2019
I truly hope justice is served and that my friend’s music will fall into the hands of a better human.
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) June 30, 2019
Also........Men sending women in (their wives) to carry out their patriarchal bullshit is the worst form of feminist and human betrayal of all time - looking at you Yael and Hailey
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
I would normally not say anything because I’m sure scooter will threaten me like he has before to keep me quiet, but guess what Scooter, nothing you can do to me would be worst than the 6 years of my life I can’t get back from when & I was ignored as your “artist”
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
Welp, I guess they let me go...also I’d like to say this was TWO YEARS after I did the Christmas tour and supposedly stole from my fans 🙄 pic.twitter.com/CEzL7Gluvh
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
Dear Demi, first off...why did you delete your tweet? Secondly, I love you and listen to your music religiously, but thirdly, you cannot compare your experience to mine, especially with someone I was with for six years and you've only just signed with.
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
Also, stop using your one client who identifies as queer to stand up for you. There's no way Demi saw my tweet, that means someone from your team is reaching out to them, using them to defend you. Fight your own battles.
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
Being black and gay in this industry is hard as hell, and was even harder when I signed with that man and unless someone has walked in my shoes...I don't care to compare their experiences to mine. Period!
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
Ok NOW I’m going to sleep, and I realized that Demi commented on insta & doesn’t have Twitter. Also, this is very unfortunate because I LOVE Demi & her music! Been a fan for years. Not trying to start a fight with her because she has nothing to do with it!
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) July 1, 2019
Iggy Azalea: The rapper showed Swift support, saying she could have been told months earlier that her music was up for sale.
Telling someone about a deal days before it’s public means the deal was already done & she never had the opportunity to even make a bid to own her own work. These deals take months to negotiate in long form. https://t.co/Ra7NdxzcOM
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) June 30, 2019
Scott Borchetta: The Big Machine founder, who is also at the center of this, spoke out on Sunday to “set some things straight,” and included text exchanges he had with Swift. He said Swift had the opportunity to get the right to some of her masters — if she re-signed with his company. She opted to move on. He also said Swift knew the sale was happening — not only is her father, Scott Swift, a shareholder, but Borchetta himself texted her the news before it was public. And he claimed he had no idea the bitterness between Swift and Braun, despite Swift saying he did. He also said his relationship with Swift was pleasant before her scorched-earth post about how they made the deal to controlling “a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity.”
In regard to a post earlier today from Taylor, it’s time to set some things straight. https://t.co/OqGI4GoN3P
— Scott Borchetta (@scottborchetta) July 1, 2019
Yael Cohen Braun: Scooter’s wife unsurprisingly is in his corner. She called Swift’s post an “embarrassing ... temper tantrum.” She said Swift is the bully, writing. “The world has watched you collect and drop friends like wilted flowers.” And brought up Kardashian’s phone called, writing, “Don’t blame [Scooter] because Kim caught you in a lie.”
Yael and Scooter Braun were at Karlie Kloss’s wedding last week. Kloss used to be best friends with Swift, who — in a glaring omission — wasn’t in attendance at the big event. Kloss has been repped by Braun as she moved beyond modeling.
Allison Kaye: Braun’s business partner also had his back. She said she was offended that Swift made this about gender when Braun supports females in his workplace. She called Swift “childish and immature.”
Kaye then tweeted several comments directed at Todrick Hall, saying that the reason he was axed by Braun was because he was stealing.
@todrick this is disgusting and defamatory statement. We dropped you after finding out you were stealing from your fans on your Christmas tour. Scooter has been nothing but supportive of all disenfranchised groups. He is against dishonesty. Not those living in their truth.
— Allison K Scarinzi (@AllisonKaye) July 1, 2019
You said you needed that amount of money. When we said we wouldn’t give it to you - you stole. If you want to play the screenshot game I’ve got a bunch from unpaid cast members - though I’m sure they’d be happy to put you on blast themselves. Stop chasing clout and pay your bills
— Allison K Scarinzi (@AllisonKaye) July 1, 2019
There is a whole lot of speculation about who is on which side based on likes on various posts. For instance, Kacey Musgraves and Kendall Jenner liked Yael’s anti-Swift post. Meanwhile, several female artists who reportedly followed Braun have clicked unfollow — the list reportedly includes Selena Gomez.
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