How To Explain Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun's Feud To Anyone Who Asks

On Sunday (June 30), Taylor Swift shared a heartbreaking note on Tumblr that had Swifties everywhere up in arms. The lengthy letter took direct aim at Scott Borchetta, the CEO of her former label Big Machine Label Sort, along with music manager Scooter Braun, whose company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Big Machine for a whopping $300 million.

The problem? The label retains ownership of Swift's master recordings from her first six albums, which means that Braun — a male Swift says subjected her to "incessant, manipulative bullying" for years — stands to profit from a whole 10 years of her hard work, including any master recordings before "ME!" featuring Brendon Urie. Swift called the complete thing her "worst case scenario."

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But while Taylor's beginning post was enough to have Swifties demanding that Braun and Borchetta give Swift her recordings back, it's unfortunately a little bit more complex than that. Since publishing her thoughts, a number of other people involved — along with a number of other people not involved — have spoken up in defense of either Swift or Braun, and yeah, the complete thing has gotten pretty intense. Here's a full breakdown of the drama — know, and also you could explain it to anyone who asks! (You can thank us later.)

Taylor Calls Out Scooter (And Others)

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The "You Need to Calm Down" singer's blog post was — as you can imagine — anything nevertheless calm. In it, she opened up about her failed efforts to increase ownership of her recordings in the past. "For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work," she wrote. Alternatively I was given a possibility to sign back up to Big Machine Records and 'earn' one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in." Nevertheless knowing that Borchetta would wind up selling the label, Swift walked away and signed a deal with Universal's Republic Records in 2018 — one that would give her ownership of all her master recordings going forward.

needless to say, this new deal with Republic meant that she was entrusting Borchetta with the masters from the initial decade of her career. Nevertheless by selling Big Machine to Braun — best referred to because the longtime manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande — Swift feels Borchetta betrayed that trust, especially because, according to her, Borchetta was well aware of her negative feelings toward Braun.

The pop star then went on to call out specific instances she felt bullied by Braun and his clientele, including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and Bieber. "Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer could be Scooter," Swift added. "Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words 'Scooter Braun' escape my lips, it was any time While I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn't wish to be regarding them. In perpetuity. That indicates forever."

Justin Bieber Responds

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Bieber, who was discovered by Braun at just 12 years old, took to Instagram soon after reading Swift's note to apologize for the "hurtful" Instagram post she referenced on Tumblr. Right after acknowledging that the post was insensitive — it showed Braun, West, and Bieber facetiming with the caption "Taylor [S]wift what up" — Bieber's apology speedily transformed into him defending his longtime manager.

According to Bieber, Scooter's routinely had Taylor's back — especially since Swift allowed the then-teen heartthrob to open up for her throughout her Fearless tour in 2009. And if he acknowledged that there's been some unresolved conflict between them over the years, he expressed that he doesn't think it's fair for her to hate on Scooter so publicly. "One thing I know is both scooter and I love you," he wrote. From his perspective, it was like Taylor only posted that blog because she knew her fans would "bully" Scooter, and according to him, "that's crossing a line."

The Big Machine Boss Weighs In

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Later on, Big Machine founder Borchetta directed his followers to a blog post he published on Big Machine's website explaining his side of the story. Not only did he attach an image of his 2018 proposal to Taylor as proof she passed on owning her own masters, although he also expressed a lot of doubt about whether or not Taylor really noticed out the news with the rest of the world, as her blog post proposed. "I personally texted Taylor at 9:06pm, Saturday, June 29th to inform her prior to the story breaking on the morning of Sunday, June 30th so she might hear it directly from me," he wrote.

Borchetta then went on to point out some other inconsistencies in Swift's post. According to him, there was nothing in the contract that mentioned Taylor would have to earn back the masters from her previous albums. "100% of all Taylor Swift assets were to be transferred to her immediately upon signing the new agreement," Borchetta wrote. "... Taylor had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, although every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave."

He also addressed Swift's claims that she was "either crying or trying not to" any time Braun's name was said. "I definitely never experienced that," he wrote. Borchetta acknowledged past tension between Swift and Bieber although mentioned Braun had reached out to be able to see if Taylor could be interested in participating in One Love Manchester and March For Our Lives. He mentioned she rejected both.

'Who Are You To Talk About Bullying?'

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Braun's partner, Yael Cohen Braun, took to her own personalized Instagram to defend her partner and to call Swift out for being a bully herself. "Who are you to talk about bullying?" she wrote. "The world has watched you collect and drop companions like wilted plants. ... You are supposed to be a role model, although continue to model bullying."

Demi Lovato also reportedly showed support for her manager, posting to Instagram Stories to share how grateful she is for Scooter, who she signed to back in May. "I have dealt with bad people in this industry and Scooter isn't one of these she wrote. "He's a good man. Personally, I'm grateful he came into my life as soon as he did."

Taylor's Squad Defends Her

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A bunch of Swift's prominent companions have come to her defense as well. Todrick Hall, as an example, was signed to Braun for six years, and according to him, it was an awful experience. "He is an evil person who’s only concern is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego," Hall wrote, also calling Braun "homophobic" and saying "I'm sure [Braun] will threaten me."

Cara Delevingne also reportedly defended Swift by commenting on Bieber's Instagram post. "As a wedded man, you need to be lifting ladies up alternatively opposed to tearing them down because you are threatened," she wrote. "I am not sure you actually understand what an apology is."

Meanwhile, Halsey also took to social media to express her support for Taylor, citing Swift as one of her biggest inspirations to write her own music. Then, in a show of solidarity, stars including Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Camila Cabello, Adele, and Gwen Stefani all reportedly unfollowed Scooter amid the drama.

Any Word From Scooter?

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for now, the only key player who hasn't addressed the drama directly is Braun himself. For the time being, the SB Assignments founder has only shared congratulatory messages from those who are cooperative of this new venture. He did, although, retweet a simple message: each person has a story. Context is everything."