Scooter Braun has opened up about his highly publicised dispute with Taylor Swift over her master recordings, claiming that “everybody in the end won” during a recent 90-minute interview on Danielle Robay’s “Question Everything” podcast.
In what he hopes will be one of the final times addressing the saga, Braun spent approximately 20 minutes discussing the contentious purchase and subsequent sale of Swift’s masters, which became one of the music industry’s most notorious conflicts in recent years, as per Variety.
“Look, for me, it was six years ago. I think like going backwards and revisiting this is a waste of time,” Braun stated during the interview, which was recorded in April, well before Swift announced on May 30th that she had repurchased her master recordings from Shamrock Holdings.
Braun attempted to justify his actions by suggesting there may have been a communication breakdown on Swift’s team regarding negotiations to sell the masters back to her. “When Taylor says that she wasn’t offered the masters, the reason I was under NDA was because we were in negotiations to sell it back to her. I just choose to believe her, that maybe they didn’t tell her.”
The music executive expressed only one regret: that he and Swift never had a face-to-face conversation about the situation. “The only thing that I really regret is that it’s easy to have a monster if you never meet them,” he said, noting they’ve only met three times and haven’t seen each other in years.
Addressing Swift’s dedicated fanbase, Braun broke the fourth wall during the interview with a direct message: “Hello, Swifties! They’re gonna be yelling and screaming and this, that and the other. You can’t say anything right, and it is what it is. You know, my response to that is they made the horrible miscalculation that I care.”
When asked about speculation that Swift’s song “Vigilante Shit” referenced him and his ex-wife Yael Cohen Braun, he dismissed the notion, claiming they “laugh about that stuff” and calling it “a great strategy move” by Swift. He described his former spouse as “one of my best friends” and “my partner,” noting they don’t even use the term “ex” with each other.
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Braun also revealed a 20-minute suicidal episode he experienced in October 2020, though he emphasised it was related to his divorce rather than the Swift controversy. “The ups and downs of artist life, the Taylor stuff, none of that actually affected me — losing my marriage affected me,” he confessed.
Having exited the management business entirely, Braun made it clear he has no interest in returning to that role, regardless of which artists he might have the opportunity to represent. “I had a great run… I had an incredible management career. I’m good,” he concluded.
