Taylor Swift’s recent Rolling Stone interview was bonkers. At various points of the interview, it was clear that Taylor is driven to misrepresent things to such an extreme, all so she alone will be the biggest victim ever. Every narrative in her life is about how everyone is against her, everyone is talking sh-t about her, and no one will ever get her credit for anything she ever does. She twists and manipulates every story, every situation, every quote to achieve that end. And what was crazier still is that… the interview basically wasn’t even discussed. I think those of us who read the whole crazy thing were like “WTF is even happening, please read this!” But most people tapped out.
Someone suggested that Taylor was perhaps baiting her enemies (because this chick has so many enemies) into reacting to her bonkers interview so could… you know, continue to act like the biggest victim. So far, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian haven’t said one word. But Scooter Braun is saying some sh-t. Scooter was the one to buy the Big Machine masters (including Taylor Swift’s masters). Scooter is also Kanye’s manager, and Taylor has felt for years that Scooter is trying to ruin her or something. So, here’s what Scooter has to say:
Scooter Braun, who represents artists like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato, addressed his feud with the “Lover” singer in the latest episode of Tony Gonzalez’s Wide Open podcast.
“I went through some drama recently,” Braun, 38, said, alluding to the situation with Swift, 29, which began after he purchased Big Machine and thus acquired ownership of the singer’s master recordings. He continued, “And then put my phone down, looked at my friends and my family … and I was like, ‘I’m good … I’m happy.’ And people question your integrity. They talk s–t.”
After Swift publicly slammed Braun for his actions, he received backlash from many of Swift’s fans, but the talent manager said in those situations you’ve “got to know your truth. You got to know your intention. I think you should have no regrets in life unless you do something with malicious intent. If I go through life with no malicious intent … hurt people hurt people. They’re going to project it onto you, they are going to say certain things.”
Despite his headline-making feud with Swift, Braun isn’t letting the hate get to him. “I don’t really carry it,” he said. “I used to get really angry, but now I am at a place where this is just an opportunity for me long-term to really truly show my truth. It’s hard when you get attacked and it’s not based on any truth, but for that other person it may be based in truth but they don’t have all the information,” he explained. “And that’s why I am always open to communication and having a conversation with someone and saying, ‘Maybe this was a misunderstanding and I am happy to have the conversation with you.’ But not everybody is willing to do that and you can’t go through life thinking you’re going to be friends and everyone is going to like you.”
Braun added that he doesn’t “do anything with malicious intent,” despite what Swift and her supporters have said. “I try to do the right thing,” he said. “Not everyone is going to be happy with what you do. I think in the long-term, I’ve learned this over time, the truth always comes out. And I am confident in that.”
This is fascinating to me, the way he’s talking around Taylor and the subtext of his words. “If I go through life with no malicious intent … hurt people hurt people. They’re going to project it onto you, they are going to say certain things.” That has layers. On one side, it’s compassionate towards Taylor, and he’s showing his understanding of how hurt she was by the business deal. On the other side, he’s talking sh-t, basically saying that Taylor is Hector Projector and that all the sh-t she talks is just her projecting her own sh-ttiness. Scooter Braun is a genius. Or something.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
So this is what douchey frat bros turn out like after college? Duly noted.
Yeah and she’s what a millionaire white girl filled with privilege spinning harmful narratives about black men bullying looks like
Both grim.
The only way to move this on is for everyone to pretend TSwift is right
Scooter Braun is a music industry executive, a life form that is slightly higher than a cockroach but lower than a pigeon and about as trustworthy as Donald Trump.
Yep. This is basically what I came here to say. Swift is certainly responsible for a good chunk of her issues… but Scooter is not someone to be rooting for. He’s sketchy as hell.
I find Taylor Swift sketchy as hell too. I don’t know anything about Scooter except this issue with Taylor, and I can agree that all music executives are untrustworthy without anymore information. But I don’t blame him for buying her stuff, it was a business deal. If I had the money, I would too, it’s just smart. So really, there are no winners in this situation. They’ll both be fine after this.
I love this comment!
I don’t think there are any winners here.
I’m not mad at him for this. It addresses the situation, calls her a damned liar and truth stretcher but doesn’t leave room for her to parse and deflect. It also doesn’t call her crazy or use any other form of misogyny to refute her arguments.
It’s a circular response but there isn’t room for much else without making it worse.
As we’ve already seen with Katy Perry, nothing short of asskissing and buying into TayTay’s narrative actually works with her. So here we all are.
Yeah, I’m not sure what he is supposed to say when he is asked about it. Definitely circular, but overall actually a good response in many ways. I don’t think he’s “saying some sh*t.”
Also, that way of talking is kind of his thing. If you look at his Facebook or IG, he’s always putting up quotes like that, or clips of himself saying things like that, etc. It’s like he is always trying to make these grand philosophical statements about life. It’s kind of funny in its way, but it also makes these comments seem more par for the course for him.
I’m mad. I hate this whole “hurt people hurt people” schtick. Unconscious, unaware people with good intentions hurt people, too. And use their, “I meant well,” “I’m a good person” defense to continue on with racist, misogynist people. We all do it- we get defensive when it is pointed out we did something hurtful or insensitive unintentionally. We’ll never change and become a just society if we fall back onto, I didn’t mean to do that! I’m a good person.
I know this is not central to what he’s talking about (T Swift’s drama and victimhood) but it still sucks. And it’s wrong.
Great point. I feel the same. Thanks for sharing.
As a society, I agree we need to move toward a different understanding of accountability. I don’t think you are really holding yourself or others accountable if you accept that their good intentions are more important than the consequences of their actions. We are responsible for what we do even when we are acting from an unconscious, reactive place while ‘meaning well.’
It was a well thought out response. He’s still in the business after all. There are ways to address things without directly calling out people who deserve to be called out.
I don’t really care about this guy and it was a business decision. I don’t think he needs to apologize for buying the company.
I mean, at one point he posted and deleted an IG thing about “owning her.” Taylor’s problematic, but Scooter is a complete sh*tshow.
Yep. How easily people forget.
And I don’t even really like Taylor 😂
If Taylor was a guy- we would confidently call him a first class douche bag. You know what….. she is a douche bag !!!
I think he nailed it. Business side of the transaction aside. Taylor is always starting drama. She can’t go through life as a peaceful person. There’s always a disagreement with someone. She even injected herself into Nicky Manja situation a few years ago, and Taylor had no idea what she was talking about, but somehow made it about her. There are some people who seems to thrive on drama, and she’s one of them. Which is another reason she turns me off. She takes zero accountability for her behavior, which is another frustration of mine with her. If she just kept her nose down and recorded crappy music, I’d have more respect for her. She’s a pain in the ass.
Sorry I just can’t with the psycho babble he and Justin Bieber seem to speak. All about acting with love and kindness and no malice regardless of their actions. Bieber seems harmless enough these days but the language these ex frat boys use just leaves me cold. Kind of religious new wave zeolot speak that makes no sense.
For me the line that good intentions is the only thing that matters in terms of our actions is really troublesome.
Good intentions are a common excuse for racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist actions and systemic oppression. I love women. I’m not racist. I mean well. So even though my behaviour was crap, you should forgive me. It’s not my fault. I’m a good person.
Yes, it’s a douchebro. But it’s all of us. Even “nice” people. Especially “nice” (but blind) people. Most of us are unaware of the ways our society has been built by oppressive attitudes and beliefs – that the structures of society, our assumptions/beliefs are shaped by these things. And that it translates into shitty behaviour, however well meaning. It’s like water, we can’t even see it.
So, frankly, good intentions are just excuses unless translated into being willing to own up to hurtful/oppressive behaviour and then a willingness to learn and change!!!! It’s uncomfortable to be called out/realize we are hurting people despite our intentions, but it’s necessary for a fair, egalitarian society.
well put.
He sounds like someone who has had a lot of therapy and grown. Or he has a great publicist. But I suspect the former.
“hurt people hurt people” typically refers to abuse…not possibly valid claims about whether your professional activities were ethical. And since when have good intentions (“no malicious intent”) sufficed? Plenty of people with good intentions do things that cause harm–God, look at half the public policy in history. Get some perspective. People need to worry less about their truth and expend a little more effort towards learning about the history/context/impacts of their actions.
In what way was him purchasing Taylor’s record company unethical?
Taylor has said she believes Scooter bought Big Machine just to eff with her, that it’s an attempt to control her and bring her down.
He’s saying that he didn’t buy it because of a personal grudge or for any malicious intent, that it was business.
So in that context, yes, it matters. And it will matter unless or until Scooter does something underhanded or douchey with her music.
It says someting about Swift that she truly believes someone buying a company for hundreds of millions of dollars is all about her. I don’t know how rich Braun is but I doubt he has hundreds of millions laying around just to mess with her.
Ok sure Jan. He blew millions of dollars just to “hurt” her. That sounds like someone would say in Jr. High. He is a businessman over all. It is all about dollars and cents. For some cockamamie reason her catalog sells. Not really hard to decide why he bought it. It’s not personal. He was the highest bidder. People stop thinking this is someone who stole candy out of her hands!
This. Scooter Braun doesn’t have hundreds of millions, let alone hundreds of millions to spend just to screw with someone.
The money to buy Big Machine came from investors. It would have taken Braun a lot of work and a lot of time to get that deal together, and it’s not going to pay off for him for a long long time. That Taylor thinks he did that just to upset her…I mean, how narcissistic and paranoid can you get.
@ JulieCarr Exactly! He’s a businessman and has investors to answer to who agreed with him that this is a good deal to sink that much money in. For Swift to think that Braun was able to do all that with the sole intention of upsetting her is incredibly egocentric. I also dislike the way she keeps using feminism and misogyny to deflect from her narcissism and egocentricism. In her op-ed she made it sound like he desperately wanted to bring her down because she’s a strong woman. It’s incredibly manipulative but also disrespectful to use something like that in order to give your own annoyance with someone you don’t like making a business deal you don’t like legitimacy.
‘Taylor is driven to misrepresent things to such an extreme, all so she alone will be the biggest victim ever. Every narrative in her life is about how everyone is against her, everyone is talking sh-t about her, and no one will ever get her credit for anything she ever does. She twists and manipulates every story, every situation, every quote to achieve that end.’
Wow I thought of Trump when I read that
I do think they’re both Narcissists
OH yeah she acts just like the mango. She could actually be daughter-wife 2.0.
people who say “live my truth” over and over are liars.
So you think he lied about this business transaction? He spent millions of dollars to “hurt” her? Okay.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” — Hunter S. Thompson, supposedly
LOL!!
He looks like Harvey Weinstein and from the little I know, hes gonna grow into Weinstein soon. I dont trust him.
The SHADE! I love it. And he’s right. Everything about Taylor’s perpetual victimhood is projection. If you constantly have issues with people YOU are the common denominator in each of those scenarios.
I completely agree. If someone wronged you once you were a victim, If people wronged you twice then you haven’t had much luck with people but if others seem to consistently and continuously be out to get you you might want to think about what the common denominator is in all these scenarios. The world can be a difficult place but there is no grand plan where everyone you meet wants to do you wrong.
It’s sad really. While I don’t like Swift as a singer I do think she’s smart. It’s too bad she’s so emotionally immature she can’t help but get entangled in these childish spats which serve no other purpose than to placate her own ego as always being the wronged party instead of having to take responsibility for her own actions.
Didn’t he say that he “owns Taylor Swift now”? That alone is douchbag material.
There is literally no evidence of him ever having said that other than Swift fans claiming he did.
He reposted an IG story from a friend congratulating him on his purchase. It was one of dozens of congrats messages he reposted, and the friend was clearly just using it as shorthand to mean Taylor Swifts back catalogue (which is not unusual, people, including the artists themselves, often refer to the artist as a product when talking about ownership of work).
The friend could have worded it better, but it very clearly wasn’t meant to be a gross statement.
Is anybody else annoyed by this whole “my truth” thing?
There is no such thing as “my truth.” There is THE truth, and then there is perception. Perception is based on experiences, context, feelings, and so many other layers of things – and determines perspective.
Truth just is – no matter what.
I think this is an interesting topic of discussion.
On the one hand, I empathize with people who use the term “my truth” because for me at least, a part of growing up is trusting my own internal ethical compass to guide me and accepting that I won’t always be liked and that’s okay (doesn’t mean I can’t still learn and grow and have my perspective shift).
On the other hand, it seems like a way of avoiding accountability when your actions hurt others.
But then I wonder, how do we arrive at something akin to objective truth? Even if we were to record an interaction between two people, anyone viewing the recording would interpret the interaction based on their perceptions, beliefs, experiences, etc.
Interesting points. Too bad we can’t drink virtual wine over this.
There are truths independent of perception, beliefs and opinion, like math and science. A video of an interaction can certainly be interpreted a variety of ways, which results in subjective truth. However, everything has an absolute truth, we just may not know it. Not knowing it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Everything else is just an opinion or belief.
Virtual Wine sounds like a lost Black Mirror episode I wouldn’t mind coming true!
Thanks for your response. I appreciate your perspective. It’s so true that realities exist even if we can never know them.
Sort of related to this, I saw a quote today by Ram Dass that went something like “What you meet in another being is the projection of your own level of evolution.”
I just wonder, must it always be so? Is there a way to really see people for who they are, even if you are not able to make complete sense of it yet? Or is the nature of our brains to try and make people we meet and interact with fit with our understanding of the world, no matter how conscious we are?
I don’t believe everything has a truth. It can’t. Only facts can have a truth. Opinions cannot. Perceptions cannot.
When people say my truth I take that to mean their perception.
Also, the opposite of truth is a lie. Perception is an entirely different concept altogether.
It’s a bit like finding someone pretty. There is no factual basis for looks, no set standard. Therefore one cannot use truth as a metric, only perception.
What we can do though is judge how genuine we think someone is being when they express their perception. And we can judge whether their perception is reasonable or rational given the facts that surround it. At that point it’s not a question of saying they don’t feel the way they do but whether it’s valid.
In this case, I don’t doubt Taylor feels Scooter Braun is out to hurt her. She clearly does. But I don’t find those feelings reasonable given what we know to be fact. And thus, her perception is irrelevant, not false though. Just irrelevant.
I agree, I feel like people who say that are copping out of responsibility, accountability, and just being a decent individual in general. And I’m not talking about Braun here, I’m talking about every pta mom I know lol
Taylor’s such a narcissist that OF COURSE she thinks a totally normal business deal is about HER.
Why did he even buy that? Swift fans are not going to buy them from him, and she will re-record them. Total waste
It will take Swift years to re-record her catalogue and she probably won’t be able to mimic the production involved. I tend to think that is an empty threat on her part, but hey if she thinks that will heal all her wounds, go for it.
People are still downloading all Swift’s music apparently (don’t ask me why) so Braun is making money of the catalogue.