Folks who were away from their internet over the weekend missed the birth of some significant pop beef. On Sunday, it was announced that Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings has agreed to acquire Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group. Taylor Swift famously spent the majority of her career with the label before leaving it recently, meaning that Braun now owns all the rights to the bulk of Swift’s recorded music. In response to the news, Swift wrote a blog post in which she expressed her disappointment, and wrote that when she learned about the news, “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at [Braun’s] hands for years.”
Swift received support from Halsey, but Justin Bieber did not feel the same way. He initially posted an image of himself, Braun, and Kanye West, and captioned it, “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 ever made.” He then shared a photo of himself and Swift, and apologized for his first post, writing, “at the time i thought it was funny but looking back it was distasteful and insensitive.”
That’s not a tone Bieber maintained throughout the rest of the post, though. He went on to accuse Swift of writing her blog post as a way of getting sympathy for herself: “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.”
Bieber concluded his post by saying that he and Braun would be happy to have a conversation with Swift: “I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or any feelings that need to be addressed. Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you. I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line..”
Find Bieber’s Instagram post below.
“Hey Taylor. 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.. I have to be honest though it was my caption and post that I screenshoted of scooter and Kanye that said “taylor swift what up” 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.. 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. Anyway, One thing i know is both scooter and i love you. I feel like the only way to resolve conflict is through communication. So banter back and fourth online i dont believe solves anything. I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or any feelings that need to be addressed. Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you. I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line..”
