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The latest episode of Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast dropped, and it may be the most interesting one yet. Scooter Braun appeared on the show to discuss the hardships he’s faced in the public eye in recent years. Apart from his divorce from his wife, Yael Cohen, the record executive touched on his fallout with Taylor Swift. Although he and the pop star used to be on good terms, Braun admitted everything began to change once he became Kanye West‘s manager.
Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift Were Once Friendly
Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift have run in the same circles for years thanks to Justin Bieber. Braun managed the “Baby” singer’s career for over a decade. Meanwhile, Swift knew Bieber due to him dating her best friend, Selena Gomez. Despite their mutual connection, Braun said he has only met Swift about three or four times. He told The Diary of a CEO podcast that their meetings were always “great.” However, he noticed things shifted between them once Braun teamed up with Kanye West.
Just a month after the rapper dissed Swift in his single “Famous” in February 2016, news broke that Braun had become West’s manager. Around the same time, Bieber had shaded Swift on social media by siding with West amid the “Famous” drama. Braun aligning himself with two of Swift’s biggest enemies made him think he had antagonized her, too. “I knew she didn’t get along with them,” Braun said. “I had a feeling she probably didn’t like me because I managed them.”
The Fight Over Her Masters
Braun hoped to patch things up with Swift once his company, Ithaca Holdings, had acquired Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records in June 2019. Since the deal meant he had become the owner of her master recordings, Braun thought Swift would reach out to him to talk about possibly working together. However, he was wrong. Instead of Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift forming a partnership, the two began publicly feuding.
Swift reacted to the deal in a Tumblr post. In her message, she revealed she had tried to buy her master recordings from Borchetta for years but was never given the opportunity. So, when she learned that he had sold them to Braun, she naturally got upset, especially due to his close relationships with West and Bieber.
Six years after the drama between Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift, the pop star announced in May that she had finally bought the rights to her masters. According to Billboard, she purchased them from Shamrock Capital for an estimated $360 million. The private equity firm had acquired ownership of her music after buying it from Ithaca Holdings in 2020. After striking the deal, Swift announced the good news on Instagram. Several celebrities showed support for her, including Scooter Braun. “I am happy for her,” Braun told Page Six.
After all this time, it seems he’s still trying to amend his relationship with Swift.
