Justin Bieber posted a statement in support of his long-time manager Scott ‘Scooter’ Braun after Taylor Swift said she was “sad” and “grossed out” that his company now owns the rights to her back catalogue.
Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings announced on Sunday that it will acquire Big Machine Label Group, which released all six of Swift’s studio albums and owns her masters.
Swift said that she learned of the move “as it was announced to the world” and described it as her “worst case scenario.”
Writing on Tumblr, she said: “I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.”
She added: “Any time [Big Machine founder] Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to.”
Swift’s post used a screen grab of an old Instagram post showing Braun posing with Bieber and Kanye West, with the caption: “Taylor Swift what up.”
Bieber rushed to defend Braun, who also manages Ariana Grande, in an extended Instagram post in which he suggested that Swift was seeking “sympathy.”
After apologising for his “hurtful” post with Braun and West, he wrote: “Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you! As the years have passed we haven't crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations.
"So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn't fair."What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter."
He concluded by claiming that he and Braun would “love to talk to [Swift] and resolve any conflict, pain or any feelings that need to be addressed.”
Addressing the row on Big Machine’s website, Borchetta said he wanted to “set things straight.”
He claimed that Swift’s father Scott was a shareholder in Big Machine and was alerted to the deal on June 25.
"We then had a final call on Friday, June 28th in which the transaction passed with a majority vote and 3 of the 5 shareholders voting 'yes' with 92% of the shareholder's vote,” he wrote.
"Out of courtesy, 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 could hear it directly from me.
"I guess it's possible that she might not have seen my text. But, I truly doubt that she 'woke up to the news when everyone else did'."
A spokesman for Swift said: "Scott Swift is not on the board of directors and has never been.
"On June 25, there was a shareholder phone call that Scott Swift did not participate in due to a very strict NDA that bound all shareholders and prohibited any discussion at all without risk of severe penalty.
"Her dad did not join that call because he did not want to be required to withhold any information from his own daughter.
"Taylor found out from the news articles when she woke up before seeing any text from Scott Borchetta and he did not call her in advance."
Addressing Swift’s “bullying” comment in an Instagram statement, Braun’s wife Yael said he was “anything but a bully.”
Additional reporting by Press Association.
