Everybody wants to know what’s going on with Scooter Braun
Is the mass exodus of clients from Scooter Braun's management normal business, or is something sinister behind the scenes?
Aux News Scooter Braun
How often does a talent manager go viral on Twitter? More often than you’d think, though it’s a bit of a Spiders Georg situation in which the talent manager going viral is always Scooter Braun. He was famous for kickstarting Justin Bieber’s career, and mega infamous for messing with Taylor Swift’s. Their feud turned him into a near-household name (as typically happens for any of Swift’s associates), but this week his name is going viral for an entirely different reason—that is, his clients are reportedly dropping like flies.
There are two stories circulating about why so many of Braun’s clientele have left the stable. One, which is obviously the Scooter-approved version, is that he’s simply stepping back from “day-to-day management” to focus on his role as CEO of HYBE America, a branch of the South Korean multinational entertainment company that manages K-pop stars BTS. In that version of the story, Braun’s biggest stars Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber aren’t parting ways with him but instead are staying with the company even as he shifts his responsibilities. Anonymous sources for both TMZ and Variety are pushing this particular spin.
The other version pushes “unsavory relations” between Braun and clients
The other version is juicier, but a lot more opaque; according to Variety, “Reps are stonewalling and insiders are clamming up fast” when asked for the real truth about Braun. “He’s imploding,” one source was willing to tell the outlet. “It’s a different world since the pandemic. You just can’t be an asshole like that anymore.” That source teased supposed “unsavory revelations” about Braun coming to light, but as yet there haven’t been any—much to the consternation of X/Twitter users. Many have questioned what Braun could possibly have done behind the scenes to alienate his talent, in between creating lots of memes about other fictional clients parting ways. The memes became so widespread that Braun got in on the action himself: “Breaking news… I’m no longer managing myself,” he posted, apparently as a joke, on Tuesday.
It’s no joke to Puck News’ Matt Belloni, who first reported the estrangement between Braun and his first and most famous client, Bieber. After Bieber’s camp denied any bad blood with Braun, Belloni insisted it was a “face-saving favor” to his (possibly former) manager. “Oh no, this is embarrassing for TMZ,” Belloni tweeted when the tabloid reported that Bieber and Grande were still with SB Projects. “Harvey [Levin, TMZ’s founder] and Scooter are BFFs but Harvey man, the brand has gotta come first….”
The news trickling out since has still been dicey, but seems to confirm Belloni’s reporting. “Justin’s been working on his new record for the last six months. Scooter and SB Projects have not set up one session or done one thing for this [new] record. The relationship with Scooter has run its course,” an insider told People, adding that the pair hadn’t spoken in nearly a year despite Bieber still being under contract with SB Projects. Meanwhile, another People source confirmed Grande had exited as well, saying she and her ex-manager “are friendly but she’s outgrown him and is excited to go in a different direction. Yes there are negotiations happening because of contracts. But this is her choice. It’s time for something new.” (Grande briefly severed their relationship in 2016 but returned to Braun after several months.)
That’s two of the biggest names on Braun’s roster gone, and they’re not the only ones. It was reported earlier this week that Demi Lovato had also “amicably” parted ways, in addition to Broadway star Idina Menzel. J Balvin reportedly broke up with Braun in May. All of those departures could indeed be because these performers want a manager more hands-on than someone who is also busy running a major entertainment company. But inquiring minds want to know: is there something more sinister that has the stars running in the other direction? Has Taylor Swift’s beloved karma come for Braun after all? “Spider-boy, king of thieves/Weave your little webs of opacity,” she mockingly sang on the Midnights track. “Trick me once, trick me twice/Don’t you know that cash ain’t the only price? It’s coming back around.” Seems like that prophecy may be coming true after all.
25 Comments
I just can’t get over a grown man in the 21st Century going by the name “Scooter”.
Also, why hasn’t Dieter Rams designed a two-wheeled vehicle?
He could make it work if always wore a spinning propeller hat and carried around an oversized lollipop.
Sources are reporting this name is “way too white” and “dumb as hell”
I knew a guy in college who went by Scooter (real first name: Scott) but I’m not sure if he kept going by it after college, and arguably college dudes are not grown men.
Yup never trust a grown ass man named Scooter.
I guess I’m not part of Everybody.
Pardon my ignorance on the subject, but in the entertainment industry what’s the difference between an agent an a manager? I assume their main roles are to make sure their clients get the best deals available so they can get their 10%. But it ultimately seems redundant to have both.
Manager is the larger brand and lifestyle, agent is specifically finding projects to work on.
Ahhh there’s a whole BoJack running joke about this. And I still don’t really know the difference
Agents typically have better connections to industry projects and brands but have large client rosters so there’s not that much face time with the client; they’re more of a matchmaker. They only collect the fee if the project/partnership was brought in through them. Managers have a limited number of clients and focus on the day-to-day and overall career development. They make money off basically everything that comes in because they work on everything. (Think real estate agent vs building manager)
the bieber thing is really interesting because he already sold his entire back catalogue. i figured his facial paralysis disease meant he was heading for early retirement, but i guess there’s an album coming.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that it’s sex pest stuff.
I don’t really know who this person is, but looking at his former roster I can make an assumption. All of his clients are artists whose relevance is fading now that they’re in their 30’s or beyond. They’re going to need talent management from someone who didn’t cut their teeth on an Entourage-like business model.
Does anyone on this site know any specifics about Braun’s negative management style? I know about his purchase of Taylor’s catalogue and her re-recordings but that is it. Are there many other known examples? Just curious.
Idk how he is with clients but he has a reputation for fucking people over in business dealings. Extracting huge favors from people and then ghosting them type of stuff.
Has Taylor Swift’s beloved karma come for Braun after all?It’s Taylor Swift’s world now, we’re just living in it.
Just like in the film “Krampus.”
“Everyone” is a serious stretch here. I can personally guarantee its not accurate.
Well, if you want to fall down the TayAnon hole, here are the lyrics that are probably most relevant to Scooter Braun…
She needed cold, hard proof, so I gave her some
She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?
Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride
Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife
…from the song Vigilante Shit, which came out about three months after Scooter and his wife filed for divorce, and about one month after Scooter was ordered to pay his ex $20 million plus $60,000 a month in child support.In other words, maybe there were some other envelopes being passed along? And the umbrage of Taylor Swift is not to be trifled with.
Is this fucking Jezebel?
I barely KNOW ‘er!
I thought I’d loop back on this since reading it earlier in the day; an actual journalistic outlet which researches topics and digs further than “people are saying,” Vox, has some information about Braun taking on duties as the CEO of the company which bought his parent company. Earlier this year he announced he’d be stepping back from a hands-on approach with his clients, which would explain why they’re moving on in such large swaths.The guy seems like a total knob and actively a piece of shit (I don’t care about Taylor Swift, but it’s crappy what he did to her work), but it sounds like there’s an actual identifiable reason his clients would be jumping ship en masse like this. I mean, who knows; he’s a rich dude so he probably is a sex pest. But this “golly, who knows?” crap is bad writing.https://www.vox.com/culture/23843489/scooter-braun-clients-leaving-hybe-justin-bieber-ariana-grande-demi-lovato-idina-menzel-j-balvin
Not everybody.
Not my everybody.