It was announced Sunday morning that Taylor Swift’s former record label Big Machine has been sold to none other than Scooter Braun, a previous antagonist of Swift. The news was a shock to many, including Swift herself. In a recent Tumblr post, the 29-year-old singer claims, “I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world.” The label was previously owned by Scott Borchetta, who was pictured with Braun celebrating the supposed $300 million deal.
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Shortly after the announcement, Swift took to social media to share her history with Braun. She shared a post belonging to Justin Bieber, one of Braun’s clients, in which the two are pictured FaceTiming and directly calling Swift out in the caption, “Taylor Swift what up.” Swift called Braun a bully multiple times and went on to claim, “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.”
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Justin Bieber took to Instagram shortly after her post went up, defending Braun as “someone he loves” writing, “I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain 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 that’s crossing a line.”
Continuing in her Tumblr post, Swift began to describe more serious claims, mentioning how Kanye West (also a client of Braun) and wife Kim Kardashian-West bullied her years ago. After a private phone call with Swift was illegally leaked, West’s video for “Famous” featured Taylor Swift naked—which Swift noted as revenge porn. She claimed, “Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked.” Braun showed his support for Kanye and “Famous” on Twitter during the initial West/Swift feud. This is yet another instance where Braun has been an enemy to Swift. She compared Braun to West, saying, “Now 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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Every album that Swift has produced now belongs to Braun, a man who has clearly expressed his bitterness towards Swift. She claims that this is heartbreaking and her “worst case scenario.” The “You Need To Calm Down” singer liked a Tumblr post describing how heartbreaking the fact that her most recent album, Reputation, an album about dealing with bullies and defamation, now belongs to her greatest bully.
Fans are quick to come to Swift’s defense, getting “#WeStandWithTaylor” trending on Twitter and tweeting furiously:
Taylor Alison Swift put her heart and soul into these six works of art/albums. For a man who has done nothing but hurt her to be able to claim ownership of them is absolutely disgusting. She deserves so much better #WeStandWithTaylor pic.twitter.com/FXp17R2deq
— Courtney Pochin (@courtneypochin) June 30, 2019
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https://twitter.com/AleixHall/status/1145442160264826880
Along with her fans, Swift’s fellow female artists are coming to her defense, tweeting their support and unfollowing Braun on various social media platforms. There is even a petition that requests that Swift remakes her albums that has surpassed 25,000 signatures within two hours, one of the most notable signatures being former enemy-turned-friend Katy Perry.
.@Halsey shows her support for Taylor Swift on Twitter. 🦋 pic.twitter.com/SECJOhCK7M
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 30, 2019
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While the singer is getting an immense amount of support from her female peers, there has been a noticeable lack of support from male artists. Swift herself has noticed this too, liking multiple posts about the issue. Another infuriating and heartbreaking fact is that one of Swift’s most prominent male friend’s is Ed Sheeran, who recently collaborated with Justin Bieber, one of Swift’s major bullies and a friend of Braun. Men like Sheeran will not come forward to defend her because they still have ties to her bully. In this incident, Swift has now been betrayed by many men, from her former record label to some of her closest pop-star friends.
Despite this awful event, Swift still saw the positive side. She is now signed with Universal Records and personally owns the rights to her future music. She wrote, “Thankfully, I am now signed to a label that believes I should own anything I create. Thankfully, I left my past in Scott’s hands and not my future. And hopefully, young artists or kids with musical dreams will read this and learn about how to better protect themselves in a negotiation. You deserve to own the art you make.”
Swift made her struggle with Braun public, so she and other young, female artists will receive justice, for both their art and selves. Backed by an army of supporters who are extending their love in the form of tweets and petitions, and they will not stop until Braun’s cruel treatment is recognized. Though her future is bright and independent, Taylor Swift is being robbed of her past art and free will, and fans and peers alike are no longer standing for this abuse.
Featured image via Taylor Swift.
