Taylor Swift says Scooter Braun is banning her from performing her old material
Taylor Swift‘s feud with Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta is going into the “Red.”
In a statement published Thursday night to her social media channels, Swift writes:
“Guys — It’s been announced recently that the American Music Awards will be honoring me with the Artist of the Decade Award at this year’s ceremony. I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.
“Additionally — and this isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news — Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years. Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film.
“Scott Borchetta told my team that they’ll allow me to use my music only if I do these things: If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year (which is something I’m both legally allowed to do and looking forward to) and also told my team that I need to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun.”
Swift also asks her fans for help:
“Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work. Please ask them for help with this — I’m hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote. I’m especially asking for help from The Carlyle Group, who put up money for the sale of my music to these two men.”
Swift’s appeal to the other artists managed by Braun, 38, is an oblique reference to Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber.
The 29-year-old’s statement ended on a dismal note: “Right now my performance at the AMA’s, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark.”
Sources close to Big Machine Records tell Page Six that Braun wasn’t part of AMA negotiations and rather Borchetta had been dealing with them with Swift’s attorneys.
Our sources also tell us Swift owes Braun and Borchetta $7 million and agreed to sort out the finances after AMA negotiations settled, but when negotiations fell flat, she threatened to publicly blast them — hence the statement Thursday.
Swift has been embroiled in a public feud with Borchetta and Braun since the latter acquired her masters. She has maintained that she discovered the deal “as it was announced to the world.” Borchetta denied the allegedly false claims, posting screenshots of messages that show she was well aware of the deal and stated her father, Scott Swift, was on investor calls. In September, Page Six exclusively learned that Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift, also texted Borchetta prior to the deal’s closing asking to discuss it.
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