Update 03/07/19: Scooter Braun has reportedly tried to contact Taylor Swift
According to The Blast, Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun has attempted to reach out to Taylor Swift directly through a 'mature and private' phone call via mutual friends, yet has not been able to reach her.
The music manager reportedly wanted to explain his side of things to the singer and convey his shock over the Tumblr post she wrote after news broke that Braun has acquired Swift's back catalogue of music.
Original story 01/07/19:
On Sunday (30 June), Taylor Swift posted an emotive and angry essay on her Tumblr blog.
The post referred to music industry news that Scooter Braun (the music mogul behind Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande) had acquired Swift's back catalogue of music. Something she most definitely was not ok with.
It wasn't long before Bieber leapt to Braun's defence in an Instagram post which referenced previous disputes between himself and Swift, which was then met with rebuttal from celebrities like Cara Delevingne (who had Swift's back).
There's a lot to explain, so here's what we know and understand...
What was Taylor Swift't blog about Scooter Braun about?
On Sunday morning, news broke that Braun - founder of SB Projects and Ithaca Holdings - bought independent record label Big Machine Label Group, the company that has released every previous album of Swift's and owns her masters (her very first recording). Swift left Big Machine in November last year to sign a new record deal with Universal Music Group.
In the essay she wrote, Swift said she first came to hear of the deal between her former company and Braun through the news, like everybody else. She claims she 'pleaded' for a chance to own her work for years but instead if she signed to Big Machine she could '"earn" one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in' so chose to walk away and sign with Universal. She claims she knew that Big Machine's CEO Scott Borchetta would likely sell the music in the future.
Swift goes on to allege that she took particular umbrage with Braun's ownership because 'all I could think about was incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years'.
She then brings up the infamous feud with Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West and a photo Bieber posted at the time with Braun and West, which she amounts to 'bullying'.
'Now Scooter has stropped me of my life's work, that I wasn't given an opportunity to buy,' she writes. 'Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.
'This is my worst case scenario... When I left my masters in Scott's hand, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmare did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter, Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words "Scooter Braun" escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn't want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.'
Swift signed the blog off by promoting her upcoming album Lover which will be released on her new label.
Has Scooter Braun or Scott Borchetta responded to Taylor Swift?
Braun hasn't officially yet (ELLE UK has approached Braun for comment). However, Borchetta, the founder and CEO of Big Machine Label, has responded by disputing that she found out about Braun's acquisition at the same time as the public.
About their parting of ways, he also claimed: 'Taylor had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave.'
He also denied that Swift cried about Braun to him and claimed instead that the music mogul supported Swift's career.
He did say, though, that he was 'aware of some prior issues between Taylor and Justin Bieber'...
How is Justin Bieber involved in this Taylor Swift feud?
Following Swift's Tumblr posting, Bieber took to Instagram - sharing a very old picture of himself with Swift at the 2009 Jingle Bell Ball, with a two-fold statement.
The first part directly apologised for posting a 'hurtful Instagram' of himself with Braun and West at the time that West and Swift were involved in a very public and long-running falling out. Bieber acknowledges that posting the photo at that time was 'distasteful and insensitive'.
However, the second part of the caption is a big defence of Braun - who has managed Bieber since his teenage days.
'Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you,' he wrote before acknowledging that between Swift and Bieber, personally, there have been issues (much of which is believed to be related to Selena Gomez - Swift's best friend who was in an on and off relationship with Bieber for years).
'As the years have passed we haven't crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations,' Bieber said to Swift. '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?'
Bieber then suggested Swift knew her fans would 'bully Scooter' and instead proposed that Bieber, Braun and Swift should meet in person and 'resolve any conflict, pain or any feelings that need to be addressed'.
'I usually don't rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone I love's character, that's crossing a line,' he finished.
How is Cara Delevingne involved?
The saga continues...
Following Bieber's Instagram post, his wife Hailey Baldwin commented under the picture: 'gentleman'.
This did not go down well with Swift's close friend Cara Delevingne who questioned why Bieber's post was gentlemanly and if Baldwin should have made such a comment.
'I wish you spent less time sticking up for men and more time trying to understand women and respecting their valid reactions,' Delevingne said to Bieber. 'As a married man you should be lifting women up instead of tearing them down because you are threatened.'
Delevingne then claimed that Bieber doesn't have a full understanding of the situation, given that he hasn't spoken to Swift in years.
'Take a step back and try and learn from this,' she advised. 'We should all be on the same team.'
Delevingne is not the only high-profile entertainer to come to Swift's defence. Halsey also waded into the dispute, sharing a statement on Twitter about wider issues within the music industry.
'It turns my guts that no matter how much 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,' she wrote. 'It speaks volumes to how far we have to come in the music industry.'
Something tells us this situation is not quite over yet...
Taylor Swift's Style File - Every One Of Her Country Glam Outfits
