Music management tycoon Scooter Braun is back in his controversial era. The manager and owner of SB Projects, known for discovering Justin Bieber and purchasing Taylor Swift‘s first six original masters without her consent, has now been dropped by high profile clients Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, and Idina Menzel.
Idina Menzel has parted ways with Scooter Braun and is no longer managed by him. pic.twitter.com/I3hJiCpcog
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 22, 2023
Menzel has starred in a number of film, television, and Broadway productions, and released several albums of original music. The actress voiced Elsa in Disney‘s “Frozen” franchise, portrayed Rachel Berry’s estranged mother on the hit Fox dramedy “Glee”, and played Elphaba in “Wicked” on Broadway for a number of years.
The three latest artists to depart the management firm remain tight lipped regarding their reasons for leaving Braun. The manager rose to success in the music industry as one of the first to scout talent through the ever changing landscape of the internet.
IM CRYIGNDNNS WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING
— I AM ruben (@FWGRANDEE) August 22, 2023
Tensions were reported to be boiling between Bieber and Braun, though Bieber is yet to depart SB Projects. Page Six alleged that Bieber’s wife, Hailey Baldwin-Bieber, had stepped in to keep the peace between Bieber and his longtime manager.
ADVERTISEMENT
While Braun was initially regarded as a power player in revolutionizing contemporary entertainment management, the manager’s ethics were called into question when he purchased Swift’s masters. Swift went on to lead the crusade for artists’ rights and ownership of original work in the music industry.
Mastersgate
In June 2019, Braun famously purchased Swift’s first six original studio album masters, which were created from when Swift was a teenager through her mid-20s. The masters were acquired through Ithaca Holdings for $330 million, after Braun bought Swift’s longtime record label, Big Machine Records. This resulted in an abrupt shift for Swift to Republic Records. The masters were acquired without Swift’s consent. Amid the ongoing departures from Braun’s management, Swifties rejoice in what they feel is justice.
— Deedee Appleby (@deedeedott) August 22, 2023
Two months later, Swift dropped her seventh studio album, “Lover”, marking the first album she ever truly owned. After the release of “Lover”, Swift announced plans to re-record each of her first six studio albums, and add additional “vault” songs to each. The vault songs refer to tracks Swift wrote at the time of each album’s release, but ultimately did not release until the present day. Today, fans celebrate the alleged downfall of Braun with a newer Swift track, “Karma”.
damn i'm running out of the karma lines!
— SpotifySwiftie (@SpotifySwiftie) August 22, 2023
It is rumored that Swift’s former friend, model Karlie Kloss, alerted Braun to the masters being on sale. Rumors have long alleged that Swift and Kloss ended their friendship over this. Listeners have long sensed that the lyrics “when the words of a sister come back in whispers/that prove she was not in fact what she seemed/not a twin from your dreams/she’s a crook who was caught” from “It’s Time To Go” reference Kloss.
ADVERTISEMENT
Allegations
The allegations against Braun remain vague, but are rumored to be serious in nature. An anonymous source confirmed to Variety that allegations were forthcoming, though they declined to comment further on the nature of the allegations.
A source tells @Variety that unsavory revelations about Scooter Braun are in the works:
“He’s imploding. It’s a different world since the pandemic. You just can’t be an asshole like that anymore.” pic.twitter.com/J4Gbna5JJE
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 22, 2023
The anonymous sources continue to allege poor character on Braun’s part, though it has not been revealed whether the allegations pertain to personal matters or unsavory business practices.
This is a developing story.
