Taylor Swift had had her fair share of celebrity feuds over the years.
Swift took to her Tumblr to call out Scooter Braun after the manager bought her back catalogue of music from Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group, which was Swift's former label. Swift says through a lengthy Tumblr post that Braun, the manager of the likes of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, has consistently bullied her in the past. And that this is just icing on the cake.
Swift posted a photo of Justin Bieber's Instagram post as he FaceTimed with Braun. Bieber's Instagram caption read: "Taylor swift what up." Taylor wrote over the photo on his Tumblr post "This is Scooter Braun, bullying me on social media when I was at my lowest point. He's about to own all the music I've ever made."
"When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares 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 post "sad and grossed out, Taylor." Justin Bieber responded to her response to his response. Are you keeping up? In his next Instagram post, he apologised with what some followers are deeming insufficient. Even model and long-time Swiftie bestie Cara Delevingne, who commented on Hailey Baldwin Bieber's Instagram comment defending her husband:
"I wish you spent less time sticking up for men and more time trying to understand women and respecting their valid reactions. As a married man, you should be lifting women up instead of tearing them down because you are threatened. I am not sure you actually understand what an apology is."
"This issue that @taylorswift is talking out is about far more than a picture and you know that. As you said, you haven’t spoken to her in years which means you definitely don’t understand the situation. I do. Take a step back and try and learn from this. We should all be on the same team. End of story."
No matter whose side you take, you can agree that famous people interacting with each other in the depths of Instagram comments and Tumblr (who has Tumblr anymore?) will never fail to entertain.
Artists’ ownership over their songs has long been a contested issue in the music industry. It has led to countless arguments, punch-ups, lawsuits and, now, social media firestorms. However, when Taylor Swift stands at the centre of controversy, it’s likely there’s more than meets the eye.
In a post on Pinterest, Swift called Scooter Braun an “incessant, manipulative bully” following his acquisition of Big Machine Label Group - which owns the rights to her music. Braun is credited with taking Justin Bieber from YouTube sensation to global megastar. The 38-year-old music mogul also counts Demi Lovato and Ty Dolla Sign within his roster of clients.
However, on Sunday, it was announced that Big Machine Label Group, the record label which owns all the master recordings from Swift’s albums, has been bought by Ithaca Holdings LLC - Braun’s company. The argument has escalated to the extent that the biggest names in music are now taking sides and slinging mud. So what did Braun do to Taylor Swift?
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It largely comes down to the feud between Taylor Swift and Kayne West following his line about her in the song Famous. “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” he raps. “Why? I made that bitch famous.” While West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, later released a secretly-recorded video call in which Swift agrees to being mentioned in the song, Taylor Swift fans were quick to point out that the word “bitch” wasn’t mentioned.
Swift was also one of the celebrities whose likeness was depicted using waxworks in the music video for the same song. While some saw this as a thought‑provoking, boundary‑pushing piece of art, in her recent post, Swift dubbed this a “revenge porn music video which strips my body naked”. Nonetheless, at the time, the court of public opinion ruled in Kim and Kanye’s favour, with the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty trending on social media.
Referring to Braun’s purchase of Big Machine as her “worst case scenario”, Swift adds: “Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
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However, she is also unhappy with Scott Borchetta - the owner of Big Machine before it was sold to Ithaca Holdings. An independent label, Big Machine’s primary focus was country artists. As a genre‑defying pop sensation, Swift was quite the anomaly among his clients. In fact, Swift’s catalogue drove 80 per cent of Big Machine’s revenues last year, according to Variety.
“For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work,” Swift explains. “Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future.”
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As with many record deals, Taylor effectively signed away the rights to her master recordings (the original studio recordings from which all finished works are creatively and legally derived) to the record label she was signing with. In exchange for studio time, distribution and promotion, intellectual property rights are often handed over indefinitely.
In the impassioned post, the 29‑year‑old wrote: “I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.”
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She also accuses Borchetta of not letting her know about the sale of the label until it was too late. While Borchetta’s response to the post has highlighted some discrepancies (he contends that he texted her to let her know and that her father - a Big Machine shareholder - had been notified), the basis of what Swift claims remains uncontested. The decision had been made without her.
The image which accompanied Swift’s open letter is a 2016 post from Justin Bieber’s Instagram account. Bieber’s post is a screenshot of a video call involving Kanye West, Scooter Braun and Justin Bieber. The caption is “Taylor swift what up”. To the photo, Taylor has added, “This is Scooter Braun, bullying me on social media when I was at my lowest point He’s about to own all the music I’ve ever made”. However, Justin Bieber has responded.
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“First of all i would like to apologize for posting that hurtful instagram post, at the time i thought it was funny but looking back it was distasteful and insensitive,” the pop star explains. “It was my captions” he explains, before adding that “he didnt have anything to do with it and it wasnt even a part of the conversation in all actuality he was the person who told me not to joke like that”.
“Both scooter and i love you,” Bieber states, before somewhat changing tact and adding: “I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line.”
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Meanwhile, Swift’s allies have also given their two cents. “Telling someone about a deal days before it’s public means the deal was already done & she never had the opportunity to even make a bid to own her own work,” stated Iggy Azalea. “These deals take months to negotiate in long form.”
“He is an evil person who’s [sic] only concern is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego,” YouTube star Todrick Hall said of Braun to whom he is a former client. “I believe he is homophobic & I know from his own mouth that he is not a Swift fan.”
Halsey added: “She deserves to own the painstaking labor of her heart.” A war of words, the internet is on fire with responses to the situation. In fact, there are so many different allegiances that pop culture journalist Courtney Soliday created this useful graphic.
Scott Borchetta, the former owner of Big Machine, has since responded in a blog post where he explained that he was largely unaware of Swift’s feeling’s towards Braun and that he gave her every opportunity to earn back her masters. However, as Swift explained, this would have been a lengthy process.
In many cases, it comes down to his word against hers. “Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to,” Swift explains. “He knew what he was doing; they both did.”
Sadly, it’s all too common for record labels to hang onto artists’ masters to earn money from potential future use of the music (such as in adverts) and as collateral. This time, the court of public opinion appears to be weighing in Taylor Swift’s favour - for highlighting an exploitative aspect of the music industry most people had never thought about.
In the past few weeks, the celebrity gossip gods have blessed us with not one, but two shock celebrity engagements. What a time to be alive!
First up on the agenda, we had Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson who shook fans by becoming betrothed after only a few weeks of dating. Their upcoming nuptials spurred all sorts of online reactions - mostly shock and outrage, with a few congratulations thrown in for good measure - and an all-round media circus. But we hadn't seen anything yet.
The announcement Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin's engagement practically defined the phrase "breaking the internet", and fans out there are still shaken, keeping their eyes sharply peeled for any new developments.
One person who's tired of the pandemonium surrounding celebrity marriages though? Ariana Grande. Her impending union with Pete Davidson has been largely compared to Justin and Hailey's, with people speculating that both were publicity stunts orchestrated by their shared manager, and many citing the fact that both couples seemed to be together a short amount of time before popping the question as evidence.
However, the One Last Time singer made it clear that she had had enough with online conspiracy theories, taking to Twitter to defend herself, as well as her and Justin's shared manager, Scooter Braun.
The drama started when Twitter user @_sexualgrande wrote a tweet that read: "First ariana get engaged to pete Davidson and now Justin bieber to hailey Bladwin the devil works hard but Scooter Braun works harder [sic]."
Not having any of it, Ariana replied stating "...you do realise we are human beings who love and have lives...right...? and that Scooter is a wonderful human being too who cares first n foremost ab our health and happiness ? love is lit. shit happens. i hope to god it happens to you too. u deserve it. [sic]"
Soon after, the No Tears Left To Cry songstress deleted her angry tweet and wrote a slightly tamer one, telling fans to "be nice" to Braun. It read: "Okay okay...be nice to that man. he's wonderful. and very human. always puts his artists' health and happiness first."
Speedy engagements are not the only thing to link Ariana and Pete with Justin and Hailey. Fans and the media have also been busy comparing the two engagement rings, with some pointing out that neither Justin or Pete scrimped on the all-important piece of jewellery.
Social media users caught the first glimpse of US model Hailey's ring in a post from Twitter user @azymanzur, which showed the 21-year-old standing next to her 24-year-old beau and wearing some serious bling on her wedding ring finger. The post was captioned: "well my friend just met justin bieber and hailey baldwin in the bahamas and she is wearing a ring".
Speaking to TMZ, an insider revealed how exactly the couple got engaged, claiming: "The two women who say they saw the engagement go down claim it was at a resort in the Bahamas. ‘They say everyone was at a restaurant on the property doing salsa dancing when Justin’s security told everyone to put their phones away, because something special was about to happen. They say Justin then proposed in front of everyone."
Despite the disappointing snarky online reaction, we hope both Justin and Hailey, and Ariana and Pete, are enjoying being newly-engaged and look forward to the weddings.
Sia has been forced to defend herself after Taylor Swift fans accused her of using blackface in an unearthed photo.
The Chandelier singer first found herself embroiled in drama when she took to social media to defend Scooter Braun, who Swift has accused of bullying her for years before buying her entire music catalogue.
Watch Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie perform Me at The Billboard Music Awards:
On Sunday, Sia turned to Twitter describe the music mogul as a "good kind man", telling him: "I love you keep going".
Swift fans didn't take kindly to the 43-year-old's post and dug out an old picture of her wearing black face paint during a performance in Australia in February 2011.
"Girl,sit [sic] ur blackface a** down," wrote Twitter user @Iamfancojooste, with @olyviacooke adding: "swifties [sic] already dug up sia in blackface omgggg they’re out for blood as they should".
However, Sia has now denied claims of blackface, insisting she was painting herself into the backdrop of her Adelaide performance.
Posting a video of the show to exemplify her point, the Cheap Thrills star wrote: "For the swift fans trying to make out that I would ever do blackface please see this video. I was painting myself into the backdrop, it was a pre cursor to the wig..."
The Australian singer is not the only celebrity to back Braun in his dispute with Swift. Justin Bieber has called the Shake It Off singer out for encouraging bullying, writing: "What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems [sic] to me like it was to get sympathy [sic] u [sic] also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter [sic].
"Anyway, One thing i [sic] know is both scooter [sic] and i [sic] love you. I feel like the only way to resolve conflict is through communication. So banter back and fourth online i dont [sic] believe [it] solves anything. I’m sure Scooter and i [sic] would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or [sic] any feelings that need to be addressed."
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Nonetheless, several artists including Halsey, Camila Cabello and Brendon Urie have spoken out in support for the Bad Blood superstar.
The latest victim on Taylor Swift's long and unforgiving list of rivals is none other than celebrity gossip correspondent Perez Hilton. He says that he was suspended from Twitter after posting a picture of a rumoured tracklist for the musician's new album Reputation.
He posted a photo of someone holding a copy of Reputation – which is only due to come out on Friday – revealing a could-be tracklist. Perez quickly received a "take-down notice" from Swift's team, and soon after was suspended from Twitter entirely.
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Swift has been extremely secretive about the new album, at first entirely deleting all her social media posts from the "Old Taylor" in an over-the-top and excessively dramatic move, before releasing dribs and drabs of information and a few singles here and there in an effort to tease listeners about the new album.
While diehard Swifties are sure to be lapping it up, everyone else is getting a little tired of Swift "throwing shade" and using her new songs to subtly "diss" people she's had beef with in the past (Kanye, Kim Kardashian, Calvin Harris, Katy Perry). We get it – they did you wrong, and you just can't get over it no matter how much you whine and cry and add clever Easter eggs into your music videos.
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And now, Perez seems to have landed a spot on the Tay-tay hitlist. In a 6-minute video posted to YouTube, Perez spoke about his suspension and slammed Swift and her management about how they reacted to his post about the album.
"Earlier today I was talking about many journalists who have felt bullied by the Taylor Swift machine," said Perez. "I had never felt that before, but I now am a victim of Taylor’s wrath."
He's referring to another video he made about the vicious "Taylor Swift machine" who bullies other celebrities, thinks she's all that, and "hurts" her fans by not wanting to release her music on streaming services.
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Hilton's new video about the suspension caused by Swift involved a lot of exaggerated sighing and the 39-year-old dropping the phrase "lame as balls... that are on fire". Erm... righto. He said her team is being "very aggressive" and that he is very disappointed by the whole thing.
"I didn’t know if it was real or not," he said. "If it was real, who cares? It was a photo of a guy’s hand holding the back of the copy of the album."
"I posted it and then I got a takedown notice from Taylor’s label, then my Twitter account got suspended."The album comes out in two days, and you’re suspending me for promoting your album? I didn’t leak any freakin’ music, it’s a freakin’ tracklisting."
He went on to explain that it's legal as the post is protected under fair use because the content was deemed newsworthy.
"And to top it all off, like an hour after I was suspended for posting the tracklisting Taylor Swift post the tracklisting herself and I'm still suspended from Twitter."
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"I'm not mad at Taylor Swift directly, I just think the people at her label are making some really dumb decisions".
You can watch the video here if you really want to, but I would recommend doing as I did and tackling it at 2X speed.
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In any case, Hilton concluded that despite the monumental disappointment and the balls-on-fire situation, the Twitter suspension “will not disillusion [him] from Taylor Swift.” Yeesh, do what you will dude, but leave me the hell out of it. It's just too much drama.
Taylor Swift fans have slammed an interviewer after a recently resurfaced video video of him roasting the star has gone viral again.
Taking to TikTok, a clip of Taylor Swift's interview from 2012 while appearing on the British talk show hosted by Jonathan Ross has recently gone viral again - but maybe not for the right reasons.
The 34-year-old appeared on the show to discuss an array of different topics including the origin story of the 'Swifties', singing the national anthem at an NBA game, and why she hates talking about her love life.
And obviously, the latter is where things went wrong thanks to a few jokes thrown about by Ross.
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When discussing her new (but now old) single 'We Are Never Getting Back Together', Ross said: "...It's a great song and I guess it's about... a breakup... a specific breakup?" to which Swift replies back with: "Yes, but not like a compilation of all of them."
"You've had a few, as we've said," Ross hits back, also adding: "Do you think, Taylor, that you... do get into relationships too readily? Do you think you give up too much of yourself too soon? Would this be why this keeps happening?
Swift responds with: "I don't know."
She also states that a lot of people do think that about her, to which Ross yells: "That's because you've had so many f****** breakups!"
The audience roars with laughter, as does the 'Love Story' singer, but she then starts explaining that thinking too much into it ruins the authenticity of the situation, which is why she avoids that.
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That specific section was reposted to TikTok just a day ago where it garnered a lot of attention, with many wondering why the interviewer would be so harsh.
"She just believes in love and wants to be loved," one user wrote while another added: "such an awful thing to say to someone tho like why ask her that."
A third also chimed in with: "Jonathan Ross wouldn't sit there and conduct an interview with a man in the same way. Most songs are about past relationships and experiences. Why is that always honed in on it esp. with her music?"
Others also commended Swift for her responses with this one user writing: "She’s a hopeless romantic. Omg I love her! She’s so cute!"
Another also commented: "No man can handle her that’s why. They can’t stand being involved with a woman more powerful than them!"
Swift has found great success writing about her relationships over the past decade and she doesn't plan on slowing down any time soon.
Her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, is currently available to listen on all major music streaming platforms.
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