The rapid unravelling of Scooter Braun.

When Taylor Swift reveals something about someone, you should listen.

Over the past week the entertainment industry has been rocked by a scandal that is taking on a new head as this beast grows. Scooter Braun has long been one of the most influential players in Hollywood writ large. For many years he has acted as celebrity manager to the likes of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and more. But it appears his day of reckoning is upon us with his reign drawing to a close.

This week, almost in perfect synchronicity, his roster of famous clients started dropping off his books in a mass exodus for the ages. The unusual departure from his most loyal supporters has sparked loud chatter with the ripples being felt far and wide. First, Ariana Grande announced she had split from Braun, then came Demi Lovato’s PR statement and one followed after the next.

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A post shared by Scott “Scooter” Braun (@scooterbraun)

The last to hold out, his most steadfast supporter, was Justin Bieber. Until now.

According to reports from Us Weekly, sources say the 29-year-old singer has severed all ties with Braun and has, “officially let Scooter go as his manager.” Bieber was arguably his biggest client and this will surely mark his death knell in the entertainment industry.

So, what the hell happened and how did we get here?

To understand Braun’s comeuppance, you need to trace the steps back to his first brushes with the bright lights of La La Land when he emerged as a young manager to Kanye West in 2005 after years of working as a party planner in the entertainment industry. They went on to have an incredibly fractious working relationship that ultimately ended in 2018. 

However, his biggest coop and feather in his cap was the discovery of a then 13-year-old Justin Bieber in 2008. He happened upon Bieber’s YouTube videos, saw something special and the rest, as they say, is history. As a partnership they went on to reach dizzying heights together which included hit records, world tours, awards, a documentary and the making of one of the biggest musicians in the world. Almost 15 years later, relationship has also soured beyond reproach. And yet we are still left with questions.

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A post shared by Scott “Scooter” Braun (@scooterbraun)

In 2019 the public were made privy to a pretty complex situation that was going on behind closed doors. Braun has made a business deal whereby he bought Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group for around US $300 million. Acquisitions like this are par for the course but what made this one interesting was the fact that Braun had effectively bought the rights to own six of Taylor Swift’s first albums including Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation.

From there it got murkier when Swift went public with her disdain for the business acquisition, revealing she had spent years copping “incessant, manipulative bullying” at the hands of Braun. “Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” she wrote on Tumblr at the time. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it. This is my worst case scenario.”

Don’t know what else to do pic.twitter.com/1uBrXwviTS

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 14, 2019

After a very public and messy battle, in 2020 Braun sold Swift’s masters to Shamrock Holdings for US $300 million. When asked if she was given the opportunity to buy back her own music, Swift said on Twitter: “He would never even quote my team a price. These master recordings were not for sale to me.” 

Despite this, Braun’s clients like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Carly Rae Jepson, stayed by his side. Many questioned why they would remain so loyal to a man whose true colours were starting to show. 

On a personal level the cracks were also starting to show. In 2021 Braun and wife Yael Cohen called it quits after eight years of marriage and three children. In 2022 their divorce was finalised and their once seemingly rock-solid partnership was no more.

It’s very rare that we learn more than a name when it comes to celebrity manager’s. In essence their job is to advise their famous clients, get the best deals and work behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. In that sense, Braun was an anomaly. You knew his name, he was instantly recognisable and he slowly but surely became a notable figure in the celebrity world akin to his clients. Perhaps, that was his undoing. Perhaps, his biggest mistake was trying to get a slice of the fame he worked so hard cultivating for his bevy of A-list faces.

Watch: Taylor Swift SLAM Scooter Braun During Billboard Woman of the Decade Speech.

"He talked the talk: 'I care about Kanye, I would never take advantage,'" a former associate said in an interview with Insider in 2022. But "Scooter's most important client has always been Scooter."

While we’re still pulling together the pieces of a puzzle, trying to figure out why Scooter Braun’s time is up - maybe the writing was always on the wall. A wolf in sheep's clothing has finally been stripped of his facade and his celebrity clients are walking away to greener pastures. Maybe there isn’t some big bombshell but rather people wanting to be treated better than what they’ve become accustomed to.

As we sit and wait for a big Scooter Braun revelation to drop (that may never come), let’s pause and reflect and remind ourselves that when Taylor Swift reveals something about someone, we should always pay attention. 

Feature Image: Getty.

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