What's Going On With Scooter Braun? Inside The Theory That The Music Mogul's Imminent Demise Is The Latest Taylor Swift Easter Egg
Karma is a god. Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend. Karma's a relaxing thought. Aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Kathy Hutchins, Tinseltown, Joe Seer and Babak Rachpoot via Shutterstock / Diego Solas, Vlada Yakovenko via Canva Scooter Braun, love him or hate him (there’s only one right answer), is one of the largest names in music itself — larger even than some of the artists he manages.
Known famously for jumpstarting Justin Bieber’s career and for his Ithaca Holdings beef with Taylor Swift, Braun has weaved his way into the top brass of the music industry, pushing his net worth to over one billion dollars at one point and becoming the CEO of Hybe America.
However high his success has reached, what goes up, must come down — and so it seems we’ve all begun to witness the downfall of maybe the most prolific talent manager ever as reports and rumors that Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Idina Menzel have all separated themselves from Braun’s superteam.
The biggest question on everyone’s mind? ‘Why?’
What's going on with Scooter Braun?
The idea that there’s anything major going on, in general, is practically a conspiracy theory but in the wake of Taylor Swift’s rerecording of 'Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)' and the timing of it all, it’s definitely a juicy one, but we'll get to that later. Up to this point, no major scandal has broken, but there are some clues that can help us figure out what’s going on.
To understand the scope of everything, understanding the timeline of departures is important.
On Friday, August 18, 2023, a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) from Matthew Belloni and a follow-up report from Puck News claimed that Bieber and Braun hadn’t spoken in months. Allegedly, Bieber had been poking around for a new manager and Puck said “They’re headed separate ways and their lawyers are involved.”
Shortly thereafter, reps from both sides denied the reports, claiming that the “rumors” were “not true.” Bieber and Braun would apparently not be separating, but days later, on August 21, 2023, it was announced both Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande would be splitting from Braun.
This leads people to believe that Bieber's split is still in the works, but as of right now, the reports were allegedly inaccurate.
Upon signing with Braun in 2019, Lovato shared on Instagram, “Dreams came true today for me…Couldn’t be happier, inspired and excited to begin this next chapter with you Scooter!!! Thank you for believing in me and for being apart of this new journey.”
Braun welcomed her to the family soon after as well, writing on Instagram “She is a special person and a special talent. I’m… we.. are honored. Welcome to the family Demi.”
Grande’s history with Braun spans nearly the entirety of her career. Grande was signed onto SB Projects in 2013, the same year she released her debut album, 'Yours Truly.' Nearly 10 years later, Grande has released six record-breaking albums — all but one debuting at the number-one spot on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Although her last project, 'Positions,' was released in 2020, it seems as though Grande is gearing up for the 10th anniversary of 'Yours Truly.' Neither Grande’s nor Braun’s team has offered to comment on the separation.
Colombian reggaeton artist J Balvin also split from the prolific manager back in May 2023.
There's speculation that Taylor Swift might have predicted Braun's downfall.
The information surrounding Taylor Swift’s involvement is entirely speculative, but it’s fun to poke around with the idea, especially since Swift's penchant for 'Tayvoodoo' is well-documented.
Swift has good reason to dislike Braun. When Braun’s holding company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Big Machine Label Group in June 2019, they acquired the masters for the first six Swift albums. She was denied the ability to buy them back and is now well on her way to finishing the rerecording and rereleasing of them.
Holding a grudge, Swift has allegedly dissed Braun on numerous occasions in her songs. Swifties are famous for their ability to decipher her lyrics, so when she says “While you were doing lines and crossing all of mine, someone told your white collar crimes,” in her 'Vigilante' song, they took that personally.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, in 2021 Braun was accused of fraud, an accusation that Braun reportedly called "absurd." In addition, an unverified report from June 2023 claimed that Braun was being investigated for insider trading.
In addition, in her lyrics for 'Karma', she sings “I keep my side of the street, you wouldn’t know what that means.” Swifties claim that she’s been trying to tell us for years that Braun is into some shady dealings, but it wasn’t coming through clearly until six years after Swift’s Reputation album teaser on August 21, 2017, which featured a snake.
Those six years later, to the day, both Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato announced that they would be separating from Braun. Grande and Lovato are lifelong friends, the former of which is also best friends with Swift.
Is this all a coincidence? Probably, but isn’t it fun to think that Swift has been plotting Braun’s downfall for the last six years? Yes, karma is a god.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor for YourTango who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.