For years, Ariana Grande’s PR was all over the place. The donut-licking incident was indicative of a larger problem within her camp, especially when it genuinely felt like Ariana threw a tantrum over issuing an apology for licking donuts in a bakery. After the Manchester bombing at Ariana’s concert in 2017, Ariana’s team finally looked professional and competent, and Scooter Braun got a lot of credit for organizing the One Manchester concert for Ariana within two weeks. Ever since then, Ariana’s team has gotten high marks and she’s been pretty scandal-free. Then she started banging her married costar Ethan Slater and she dumped her husband simultaneously. Suddenly, it was amateur hour from Ari’s team as they navigated a quickie divorce storyline while also rolling out a series of lies about when she and Ethan started. Ethan’s wife started talking and it became a huge PR disaster for her. So, where was Scooter Braun, her manager? On vacation. And that’s apparently why Ariana is dropping Scooter.
Ariana Grande’s team were reportedly unhappy with Scooter Braun after he allegedly refused to cut his vacation short and help tackle the media storm surrounding her rumoured relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater.
Grande is among the music stars to have reportedly cut ties with the music manager in recent months. The Independent understands that Demi Lovato and Frozen star Idina Menzel have parted ways with Braun’s SB Projects, while Justin Bieber is also reportedly seeking legal advice to end his contract with the mega-manager. So far none of the artists have responded publicly to the reports. Braun appeared to mock the rumours earlier this week by joking that he was “no longer managing himself”.
In a new report on Friday (25 August), Puck writer Matthew Belloni, who first reported news of Grande’s exit, claimed that tensions with the “thank u, next” singer were amplified by Braun’s reaction to her relationship controversy earlier this year.
In his report, Belloni writes that Grande’s team wanted Braun to fly from his holiday in Europe to New York in order to help quell the media furore, which he reportedly refused to do.
“I deserve a vacation,” Braun is said to have told Grande’s team, according to Belloni’s sources.
The Independent has contacted Braun and Grande’s representatives for comment.
If this is supposed to make Scooter look bad, it’s hilarious that Ariana thinks that. Ariana f–ked up her PR and instead of working with the managers Braun put in place at SB Projects, Ariana threw a tantrum that a billionaire CEO wouldn’t cut off his vacation just to rescue her from her self-made catastrophe? Yeah, I’m on Braun’s side here. It’s not like he’s the Ariana-whisperer either – she’s 30 years old, she has her own dedicated team PLUS the SB Projects team. That’s easily 20 people, all of whom could have helped crisis-manage this situation. It’s actually insane that she wanted Braun to cut off his vacation for THAT.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at The Staples Center – Arrivals Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 26 Jan 2020 Credit: CF/Cover Images
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- Las Vegas, Nevada, 05/19/2013 – The 2013 Billboard Music Awards – Backstage. Presented by Chevrolet, Samsung Galaxy Las Vegas, Buffalo and Cambio. -PICTURED: Scooter Braun, Ariana Grande -PHOTO by: Sara Jaye Weiss/startraksphoto.com Startraks Photo New York, NY For licensing please call 212-414-9464 or email sales@startraksphoto.com Featuring: Scooter Braun, Ariana Grande Where: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States When: 19 May 2013 Credit: Sara Jaye Weiss/StartraksPhoto.com
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- USA Rights Only – New York, USA -20180507- Celebrities pose on the famous stairs at the 2018 MET Gala -PICTURED: Ariana Grande -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com -36372344.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: New York, New York, United States When: 07 May 2018 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com **USA Rights Only**
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- , New York, NY – 20181114 Arricals at the 2018 Save The Children Illumination Gala held at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. -PICTURED: Scooter Braun -PHOTO by: ROGER WONG/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing Featuring: Scooter Braun Where: New York, New York, United States When: 14 Nov 2018 Credit: ROGER WONG/INSTARimages.com
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- -Los Angeles, CA – 01/26/2020 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards – Red Carpet -PICTURED: Ariana Grande -PHOTO by: Startraksphoto.com -SRK_83312 Startraks Photo New York, NY For licensing please call 212-414-9464 or email sales@startraksphoto.com Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 26 Jan 2020 Credit: Startraksphoto.com
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- North America Rights – Los Angeles, USA – 20220212 – ‘Homecoming Weekend’ Featuring Justin Bieber And Marshmello Hosted By The h.wood Group And REVOLVE Presented By PLACES.CO and Flow.com, Produced By Uncommon Entertainment held at the Pacific Design Center on February 11, 2022 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California -PICTURED: Scooter Braun -PHOTO by: Image Press Agency/ABACA USA/INSTARimages.com -798177_124.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Scooter Braun Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 12 Feb 2022 Credit: Image Press Agency/ABACA USA/INS **North America Rights**
This actually made me laugh.
Yep! This was genuinely funny as she’s acting like one of those OTT divas that you see mocked in movies… Actually, she was that OTT diva-ish singer in Don’t look up, life imitating art, I see! 😀
Girl, bye.
Exactly. And have several seats on your way out.
If Ariana doesn’t have sense enough not to f*ck Howdy Doodie on her first major breakout film opportunity (and her first role after her much anticipated return to whiteness after years and years of brownfishing), she deserves to have her career implode.
😂😂😂 “her much anticipated return to whiteness after years and years of brownfishing” Yup, Me your comment is gold!
Lol. Exactly. There is no other response required.
If his team was mismanaging the PR, then, yeah, maybe he needed to stop billionairing for a minute and help stem the tide. If anything, just to protect his business interests. Then he could fire the management team that was too incomplete to handle the job and forced him to cut his vacation short. I don’t blame his client too much for expecting competence from the firm they hired and from the individual they signed with. Can’t say I blame Ariana, because her rep took a huge hit. Deservedly so, but that’s what PR teams are for—to spin or undo the hit. Braun’s team failed.
It was a hot mess! They were absolutely doing a terrible job lol
You have to take responsibility for your raggedy behavior. Who told her to bang her married co-star? Not Scooter. Her reputation took a huge hit because she trashed it.
I’m firmly team Ariana shot her own self in the foot, but you’re right in that Scooter’s team failed at their job.
We don’t know what Scooter’s team recommended as a PR strategy. I’m in PR/communications and just this weekend I had to deal with a potentially negative media inquiry that stemmed from the client deciding to act against our recommendation weeks ago. This happens All. The. Time. So why should Scooter come off of vacation if all he had to say was “Do what my people are telling you”
I’m responding only to what is in the article. There was no mention of Ariana not taking Braun’s advice, only that he wouldn’t return from vacation to help. So I didn’t extrapolate and say it’s all her fault because she ignored his very competent strategy, I am taking the article at face value. When and if more information is released that suggests Ariana ignored Braun’s team’s PR strategy and thought she knew better and went off on her own (which, I’ll admit, sounds very on brand), I’ll revise my assessment. Fair?
Yeah no. There was no way of getting out of that mess that SHE created. And I honestly think a LOT of what was going on was Ariana NOT taking her PR’s advice.
I mean, sure, we’ll never know what SB’s team told her to say/do, but I feel like we can all confidently agree it was NOT: “You know what would be great PR for you/this movie? If you start sleeping with your married, new-dad co-star who looks like he’s 12, while you are also still married,” so it feels pretty safe to assume a lot of this mess is her own doing, regardless of what happened after those initial choices.
But why does someone have to cut their vacations short for it? There’s a team in place for management and for crisis management. Now, how could anyone really salvage that situation, I dont know. It had like 5% chance to have a positive outcome and then LJ talking just burned them all down.
A probable scenario could be SB was demanded by AG’s team and as CEO of the company he thought “well, this is serious shit, dont think I could do anything extra there” and he does deserve his vacactions, that’s true for everyone.
Everyone who has followed AG know she prob made the equivalent of “I want to talk to the manager” on a PR Company XD
In a business POV, this does make SB look better than her.
Her face in that pic of them together looks SO DIFFERENT! Reminds me of that meme of before and after Khloe Kardashian pics that says remember, you aren’t ugly you’re just poor, ha
The cynic in me thinks that Scooter, a literal master of PR, planted this story to make her look bad and him look better. Which, she dug that hole all by herself, but this smells fishy.
Totally agree, simply because it casts her in a worse light and makes him look good. This story also takes some of the oxygen away from the other clients who have dropped him. Too many people have left this year alone.
This times one million. I’m no fan of her personal life-but this totally has his fingerprints all over it.
I dont know, I can see it going either way in terms of who it came from. Look at the comments here, some people think this makes Ariana look good, some people think it makes Scooter look good.
Well if they can plant/leak stories about him he can do the same. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Uhhhhhhh yes thank you. The detail about “I deserve to have a vacation” is very specific and really has the effect of making you identify with and root for him – which makes me believe this story absolutely came from him. Was it here or on Lainey last week where someone said to watch for stories where he looks sympathetic to see his PR damage control?
I’d totally buy this. My first reaction reading this was “but what about all the other people who dropped him?” This specific story make her look bad, not him, but what else is going to come out here?
Oh, I 100% assumed this was coming from his side, no question.
@Abby YUP, you see what’s going on here, and I agree! I do have to hand it to Ole Scoot though, as this was a pretty smart PR counter offense to use Ariana’s well known awful behavior against her: notice how nobody is talking anymore about all his other clients that have dropped him recently as well, which I doubt had anything to do with Ariana’s situation.
Team Scooter on this one. She’s a brat and always has been.
Same. I can’t actually believe I’m on his side for something, but everyone deserves time off. Even him.
She’s a self-righteous little twit.
Oh look it’s her original face in that hugging photo.
Two awful people here: So did Scooter publish (I think this) this because he knew it would make Ariana look terrible or did Ariana actually publish this to make Scooter seem awful (but she’s unable to read the room)?
I still suspect that people are leaving Scooter in droves for “a reason,” and I’m not sure I buy the fact that all of them are leaving due to Scooter not being available enough.
Well Ariana you wouldn’t need him to clean up your messes if you didn’t make them. Come home from vacation to deal with your affair mess? No I wouldn’t come home and deal with it either. This is your fault and yours alone Ariana.
Maybe Scooter is tired of dealing with his clients self-inflicted drama. Maybe after dealing with HYBE’s KPop artists, he sees what it’s like to deal with well behaved, disciplined professionals. In Korean culture, they hold their idols to incredibly high standards and they don’t dare put a toe out of line. I mean, it’s a scandal if they are perceived to have bad manners. Must be refreshing for Braun.
I have no idea which way this is going or who to root for. I’m just sitting on the sidelines with popcorn.
If that’s the case though, why are THEY (meaning his clients) the ones that are leaving HIM?
Because he’s not giving them enough attention? He’s refusing to clean up their messes? His priorities have changed and they need someone who will drop everything for them when they screw up? Any number of reasons.
Please. Like Ariana Grande or not, Braun gets paid big bucks to do this job and PR scandals wait for no one. I’m a lawyer and know that any vacation is subject to a client emergency.
Agreed. Setting aside the fact that Ariana made this mess, Scooter needs to be visible and available for his high-profile clients. He was fine with losing her.
This is an interesting argument for her team to take.
On the one hand, I can see her point – if you’re paying someone as much money as Scooter is presumably getting from Ariana, then you do expect a certain level of attention in return, especially in times of crisis. But if he is generally stepping away from management and put a team in place for her because of that (as some stories indicate about this), then it seems he would want the team to handle it.
Honestly, it sounds to me like she (or her PR person) ran with the negative stories about the wife or how they were divorcing or whatever (I can’t remember the drama now), which made the whole situation that much messier, and Scooter was like “you know what? You created this, you fix it, I’m on vacation.”
Thumbelina is such a ridiculous woman. She is the one who jumped into bed with a married man AND cheated on her husband. Scooter not leaving his vacation to manage that mess is okay by me. She’s just so awful.
There’s only so much spin someone can accomplish when your married self starts humping on a married man and his wife didn’t have to sign an NDA so she sticks up for herself in the press when you and her husband just wanted to steamroll her.
This.
They’re both trash.
As an aside, over the weekend Ariana released some live tracks commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the release of her first album (I think that’s what’s going on…). All that Wicked training has done wonders for her enunciation; her vocals are out-of-this-world. She needs to get her house in order, keep her PR on lock-down, and stick to singing. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she actually has talent. It’s a shame that she’s letting her messy private life eclipse that.
They deserve each other. How exactly was he going to save her from the mess SHE and her jumpoff created. All anyone had to do was say nothing, but someone on her or his side decided to feed the beast. I was never a fan of hers and her baby speaking voice grates my nerves. May everyone in this situation get what they deserve.
She and her brother Frankie are both insufferable
Here come the leaks 🍿
This girl has more
Nerve tHan dollars when you make scooter look good that’s a wow for me lol
Hmm I actually don’t believe any of this. Don’t get me wrong- Ariana is capable of being that arrogant for sure…but I think something is going to come out in the next few weeks about Braun. He is a bad dude and has done alot of shady sh*t in his career. There is a reason everyone is dropping him all at once.
Well, then she should have waited until he was back from vacation to f— her costar, shouldn’t she.
Again. I cannot stand this spoiled brat of a human. I’m not much of a fan of pr and fixing. It is what it is and you did what you did.
I agree with Tisme in terms of the broad strokes of what’s going down.
In terms of details I find it extremely curious about how grande’s relationship with the haunted ventriloquist dummy is now being referred to as ‘rumoured’.
What a spoiled brat. I fell down a TikTok rabbit hole of stories about her from Disney parks employees. She sounds like an absolute nightmare
I was neutral on her until reading Jeanette McCurdy’s book. She is barely a mention in that book which I found very telling. JM talked about other co-stars from Nickelodeon in glowing terms, and Grande was just kind of a blank. It made me think a lot was removed or purposely not said so that the focus didn’t become “Ariana Grande is awful.”
Good lord, what a spoiled brat. If this story is true, then Scooter Braun is lucky to be rid of her because she is a one-woman PR circus side show.
If he didn’t immediately get on a plane he should’ve been locked in a room figuring this out. I understand not doing anything about the situation but he should’ve been meeting and talking about it. Ari is at a point where they need to decide who she is. She is the one who went public with that married man. I firmly believe she announced it. So if scooter decides to not trash Ethan or his wife to protect ari I understand. He still should personally be attentive.
Some pr company’s would’ve fired ari for this. She was too foul. Taunting the woman.
I wonder if that was what Braun wanted–Ari to fire him. She evidently doesn’t understand that there isn’t any way for her to come out looking good in this. There just isn’t. I think what really sank her was when the justifiably angry and hurt wife stood up for herself. How is ANYONE going to make that better?
I don’t know anything at all about Braun, but If it was me, I’d get rid of her as a client.
I have little doubt that was exactly why Braun didn’t. He doesn’t want her as a client.
OR he recognizes there isn’t anything he could’ve done. And there isn’t. Trashing the spouses will do nothing but be an obvious ploy nobody will believe. And they’d lose respect for him as well as Ariana.
I think he played this right actually
Someone self centered, boundary-less, and entitled enough to mate-poach is definitely the type who will expect you to ditch your vacation for them. What a narc
HIs response had me rolling. Let the man enjoy his vacation in peace LOL!!!!!!!!!!
On a serious note, Ariana is a damn mess & so is that clown who stepped out on his marriage (his name ain’t worth remembering). I’m glad that man’s wife spoke out.
As to why a few celebs dropped him, I’m wondering WHAT IF this is what he wants? You never know.
His job might bring in a lot of money BUT it sounds bloody exhausting especially having to clean up the mess REGULARLY put out by his clients. Working for BRATS like Ariana, Bieber, Demi Lovato etc. sounds like a nightmare LOL!!
My guess is that he tried to do a lot to try to fix this mess before vacation (I mean, the affair was going on for quite a while, so he probably had a hand in keeping it out of the public eye). Then I suspect she wanted her own narrative to be out there, likely against the advice of SB’s team (I mean, it was obvious to the untrained eye that this PR was a terrible idea). And it may have worked fine if Howdy Doody’s wife was too mortified to speak publicly, but (fortunately for us) she wasn’t, so AG demanded her beleaguered PR guy leave what I would guess was his only vacation in the last year or two. I do think SB leaked this info, but I also believe it’s true. SB needed a vacation, AG made her mess a bigger mess, and he said, “f* it, I’m spending time with my kids.”