Celebrities Defending Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun

Taylor Swift Slams Scooter Braun, and Stars Are Taking Sides — Here's the Who and Why

Jul 2 2019 by Britt Stephens

Taylor Swift spoke out against talent manager Scooter Braun after he purchased her former label, Big Machine Records, for $300 million — and now more stars are including themselves in the narrative on both sides. On Sunday, June 30, the "ME!" singer published a Tumblr post that slammed Braun for the "incessant, manipulative bullying" that she's "received at his hands for years." She bolstered her claims by calling out those in Scooter's circle — Justin Bieber, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian, specifically — for bullying her online, and alleging that Scooter and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta struck a deal in order to continue "controlling a woman who didn't want to be associated with them."

The statements have since brought out support (as well as some more damning accusations) from other celebrities. Taylor's longtime friend Cara Delevingne and fellow musician Halsey have championed the singer for speaking out, while Braun was backed up by his wife, F*ck Cancer founder Yael Cohen, and his clients, Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato. If you need help keeping the Team Scooter and Team Taylor rosters straight, just keep reading for the who's who.

Image Source: Getty / Jeff Kravitz/AMA2015

Justin Bieber

Justin is one of Braun's longtime clients, so it makes sense that he'd be Team Scooter in all of this. With her accusations of bullying, Taylor cited a since-deleted Instagram that Justin shared of himself FaceTiming with Scooter and Kanye West that he captioned "Taylor Swift what up."

Justin apologised for the "hurtful" post, adding that it was allegedly Scooter who told him "not to joke like that." He also defended his manager from Taylor's fans, accusing of her writing the Tumblr post so that they would "go and bully Scooter."

Image Source: Getty / Jeff Kravitz/AMA2015

Hailey Baldwin

Justin's wife, Hailey, added her two cents with a one-word comment on Justin's apology post: "Gentleman." No surprise here that she's also Team Scooter.

Image Source: Getty / VALERIE MACON

Cara Delevingne

The model made her alliance known when she responded to Hailey Baldwin's "gentleman" comment via Instagram. "You must be bored," she said, tagging both Hailey and Justin. "I wish you spent less time sticking up for men and more time trying to understand women and respecting their valid reactions. Take a step back and try to learn from this. We should all be on the same team. End of story."

Alas, Cara is clearly Team Taylor; she's been friends with the singer for years, is a fixture at her various holiday parties, and starred alongside other celebs in Taylor's "Bad Blood" video in 2015.

Image Source: Getty / ANGELA WEISS

Halsey

Halsey is also Team Taylor — she expressed her support for the singer on Twitter, and explained how much Taylor inspired her to write her own music. "She deserves to own the painstaking labor of her heart," Halsey wrote in reference to Taylor's musical catalogue.

Image Source: Getty / ANGELA WEISS

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Yael Cohen Braun

Scooter's wife, F*ck Cancer founder and philanthropist Yael Cohen, came out swinging on Instagram in support of her husband. "Interesting that the man you're so 'grossed out' by believed in you more than you believe in yourself," she wrote. "And girl, who are you to talk about bullying? The world has watched you collect and drop friends like wilted flowers. MY husband is anything but a bully."

Yael also referenced Taylor's claims that Scooter influenced Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian to "bully" her. "He's a manager, not God," she said of her husband. "Don't blame him because Kim caught you in a lie." Yael and Scooter got married in 2014 and share three kids together, so there's nobody whose going to be more Team Scooter.

Image Source: Getty / Gregg DeGuire

Demi Lovato

Along with Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato is also one of Scooter's high-profile clients. She posted a quick statement on Instagram Stories in support of her manager, writing, "I have dealt with bad people in this industry and Scooter is not one of them. He's a good man." She also made it clear that she's "always gonna stay loyal" to her team — that team being Team Scooter.

Image Source: Getty / Ari Perilstein

Scott Borchetta

The President and CEO of Big Machine Label Group is quite obviously Team Scooter. In Taylor's blog post, she claimed that she learned about the deal "as it was announced to the world." Scott responded with a post on the label's website that refuted her story, and alleges that both Taylor and her father, Scott Swift (who was a shareholder in Big Machine), were made aware of the deal as early as June 20. Borchetta also insisted that Taylor was given the opportunity to buy her master recordings, but "chose to leave."

Borchetta also echoed the sentiments of Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato when talking about Scooter's character. "Scooter has always been and will continue to be a supporter and honest custodian for Taylor and her music," he said.

Image Source: Getty / Frazer Harrison

Iggy Azalea

The Aussie rapper repped Team Taylor on Twitter; Iggy shared some insider knowledge regarding Big Machine's claims that Taylor found out about the purchase of her masters on June 25, rather than "as it was announced to the world," as Taylor wrote in her blog post.

"Telling someone about a deal days before it's public means the deal was already done [and] she never had the opportunity to even make a bid to own her own work," Iggy wrote. "These deals take months to negotiate in long form."

Image Source: Getty / Jean Baptiste Lacroix

Todrick Hall

A longtime friend, choreographer, and collaborator, Todrick is definitely Team Taylor. The entertainer took to Twitter not only to defend his pal, but also to share his own negative experiences with Scooter as a manager, calling him "an evil person." He also accused Yael and Hailey for "carry[ing] out patriarchal b*llshit" by coming to their respective husbands' defences.

Image Source: Getty / Rodin Eckenroth

Brendon Urie

Taylor's "ME!" collaborator Brendon Urie spoke out, claiming Team Taylor in a video posted to YouTube. The Panic at the Disco! singer called Scooter "a piece of sh*t" and "a f*cking asshole."

Image Source: Getty / Gary Gershoff