Latest news with #ScooterBraun
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Scooter Braun Admits He Has 'a Lot of Guilt' After Working With 'So Many Young Artists'
Scooter Braun has opened up about the 'guilt' he's reeling from his long-standing career as a former artist manager. During a recent interview on The Diary of a CEO, the former music manager admitted he feels guilty because he previously worked with a lot of young up-and-coming artists who had to grapple 'being judged by the whole world at a very young age.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Kendrick Lamar Was the Top Winner at the 2025 BET Awards Tyler Perry Calls Out Hollywood Studios at BET Awards: "This Is Not the Time to Be Silent" SHINee's Key on K-pop Stardom After 30 and Reuniting with U.S. Fans 'At this age, I feel a lot of guilt because I worked with so many young artists,' he said. 'I hadn't taken the time to look at myself or do the therapy myself until I was older, so I didn't understand at 25, 27, 30 years old that they were coming from very unique backgrounds of their own stuff with their own families and their own childhood growing up this way and being seen by the whole world and being judged by the whole world at a very young age.' Most notably, he managed Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber during the rise of their careers. In 2008, he began working with Bieber when he was 13, and Grande in 2013 when she was roughly 20. Both artists parted ways with Braun in the early 2020s. Braun elaborated on the pressures of young stardom, noting that 'I think human beings are not made to be worshiped. I think we're made to serve, and I think that when we worship human beings, it changes something within us, it messes us up a little bit.' 'That's not what we're built for, and I think it can be very confusing,' Braun added. 'And I think being able to transcend the childhood of people cheering your name and everything else at that level and get to a place where the artists I've worked with are where they are in healthy relationships and with their families and still working through stuff but having a human experience, I think it's a testament to their strength and I think that's part of it.' The Hybe CEO also addressed his feud with Taylor Swift, which sparked after he acquired Big Machine Records and, with the acquisition, her catalog of master recordings in 2019. Braun said, 'When I bought Big Machine, I thought I was going to work with all the artists on Big Machine.' 'I thought it was going to be like an exciting thing. I knew that Taylor, she and I had only met three or four times, and one of the times it was years earlier and it was a really great engagement. She invited me to a private party and we respected each other. We had a great engagement in between that time,' he explained. 'Since I'd seen her last, I started managing Kanye West, I managed Justin Bieber, I knew she didn't get along with them. I had a feeling, this is where my arrogance came in, I had a feeling she probably didn't like me because I managed them, but I thought once this announcement happened, she would talk to me, see who I am and we would work together.' Braun recalled the moment he saw Swift's Tumblr post where she said learning he had control of her catalog was her 'worst case scenario' after 'incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years.' 'I was just like shocked,' he said. 'It's been five, six years, I don't need to go back into it, but what I can tell you is everything in life is a gift, having that experience allows me to have empathy for the people I worked with who I would always say, 'Yeah, I understand,' but I never knew what it was like to be on the global stage like that. I never knew what criticism felt like.' His interview comes a few weeks after Swift bought back her catalog for her first six albums in a deal with Shamrock Capital. The original sale, which saw Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings buy Big Machine Label Group, took place in June 2019 and led the Grammy winner to re-record and release all but two of her initial six records. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blake Lively Subpoenas Scooter Braun Amid Ongoing Legal Battle With Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively is serving Scooter Braun and Hybe America, where he serves as CEO, with subpoenas in her ongoing lawsuit against It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Hybe Corp., the South Korean entertainment giant, has an investment stake in The Agency Group (TAG), the publicity firm founded by crisis PR veteran Melissa Nathan, who was brought aboard to represent Baldoni around the time of the movie's release in late summer 2024. Months later, Nathan was among those named in a lawsuit filed by Lively alleging that Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer retaliated against her by weaponizing social media after she raised claims of sexual harassment. More from The Hollywood Reporter Scooter Braun Admits He Has "a Lot of Guilt" After Working With "So Many Young Artists" Justin Baldoni's $400 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Blake Lively Tossed Out Bill Maher Compares Musk vs. Trump Rift to 'It Ends With Us' Legal Battle: "Winner Faces Blake Lively" Braun's entry into the high-profile case comes only two days after a federal judge in New York granted a motion to dismiss Baldoni's $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, personal publicist Leslie Sloane and The New York Times. Lively's original lawsuit, which began as a complaint first filed with the California Civil Rights Commission, remains set for trial March 9, 2026. In subpoenaing Braun and Hybe America, her legal team appears to be attempting to gather further information regarding Nathan. (Braun has not commented on the legal matter.) Braun and Baldoni have been friendly in the past, and once spoke together on Podcast about the #MeToo movement. (A source, however, says Braun has never seen It Ends With Us.) Lively and Braun share another another person in common, albeit under very different circumstances — Taylor Swift, who has been a longtime friend of Lively's. The same can't be said of Braun, whose business dealings as related to his acquisition of Big Machine Records and, with it, ownership of Swift's catalog of master recordings, drove a public wedge between the two music moguls in 2019. In a recent interview, Braun recalled the moment he saw Swift's Tumblr post where she said learning he had control of her catalog was her 'worst case scenario' after 'incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years.' The sale led the Grammy winner to re-record and release all but two of her initial six records. Braun's comments came a few weeks after Swift bought back her catalog for her first six albums in a deal with Shamrock Capital. Like Braun, Swift has also been caught up in the Baldoni-Lively battle. She gave permission to use one of her songs in Lively's cut of the film, and also faced the prospect of having to testify regarding her role in supporting Lively's script changes to the movie's opening scene. (In an email exchange between Lively and Baldoni that was was made public in legal filings, Lively referred to Reynolds and Swift as her 'dragons.') While Lively's legal team declared Monday's ruling a 'total victory,' Judge Lewis J. Liman of the Southern District did leave the door open for Wayfarer and Baldoni's legal team, led by Bryan Freedman, to file an amended lawsuit relating to limited contractual obligations. He also denied a request that Freedman's side be ordered to pay legal fees, albeit without prejudice. In his response to the ruling, Freedman said that 'while the Court dismissed the defamation related claims, the Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations. This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively's own team conveniently describes as 'untraceable' because they cannot prove what never happened.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Justin Baldoni Allowed to Seek Messages Between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift, Court Rules
Justin Baldoni can obtain messages between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift that relate to the filming of It Ends With Us, a court has ruled. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman found on Wednesday that the information is relevant because Lively identified Swift as a person in her orbit who would likely have knowledge about complaints or discussions regarding the working environment on the set of the movie. More from The Hollywood Reporter The Lucrative Business of Becoming Taylor Swift: Tribute Acts Are Saving Lives, Pocketing Paychecks and Finding Fame Blake Lively Subpoenas Scooter Braun Amid Ongoing Legal Battle With Justin Baldoni Scooter Braun Admits He Has "a Lot of Guilt" After Working With "So Many Young Artists" Lively had moved for a protective order relieving her from producing the information Baldoni's lawyers sought, arguing that the communications are irrelevant. The court disagreed. It pointed to Lively citing Swift as possibly having information that can be used in the case. 'The requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively's harassment and retaliation claims,' Liman wrote. The communications Baldoni can obtain will be limited to messages about the movie and the legal battle, according to the ruling. Discovery in the case remains ongoing. Lively's legal team has said it will produce all documents that Baldoni's lawyers seek, except for communications with Swift, by the end of the week if they turn over all video footage related to the movie and unredacted versions of communications cited in their revised complaint. The offer was refused. Swift's involvement in the dueling lawsuits relates, in part, to suggestions from Lively that Baldoni altered a rooftop scene at the beginning of the film. Lively invited the director to her New York City home in 2023 to discuss the script changes. Once there, Baldoni was surprised to see Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, and close friend, Swift, according to his lawsuit, which cites communications that include the name 'Taylor.' The megastars praise Lively's version of the scene, pressuring Baldoni to accept the revisions, he alleged. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun's feud over alleged unpaid MILLIONS takes dramatic new turn after falling out
Justin Bieber and his former manager are reportedly closing in on a deal to settle their years-long feud over millions Bieber allegedly owes. The 31-year-old pop superstar is said to be negotiating the terms of a settlement with Scooter Braun, TMZ reported on Tuesday. Bieber and Braun could have the details hashed out within a matter of weeks — and possibly even by next week — sources with 'direct knowledge' told the publication. The new development comes a month after the results of an independent audit were revealed, suggesting that Bieber owed his former manager several million dollars in unpaid commissions, though the singer's camp disputed those figures at the time. Representatives for Bieber and Braun haven't yet responded to request for comment. Last month, TMZ revealed the alleged results of an independent audit performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that was commissioned by Braun's entertainment company, Hybe America. The 31-year-old pop superstar is said to be negotiating the terms of a settlement with Scooter Braun (L), and sources told TMZ on Tuesday that it could be hashed out within weeks; pictured in January 2020 in LA The investigation, which last for six months, culminated in April with the determination that Bieber allegedly owed Braun $8,806,000. Although Bieber's team didn't publicly dispute the results of the PwC audit, they announced that they had conducted their own audit of his business dealings with Braun. However, they didn't share how its results compared to the independent audit. Despite the determination of Bieber's alleged debts from a third party, Braun was reportedly will to forgive the $8 million entirely. However, TMZ's sources claimed there were still two major stumbling blocks in the way of an agreement between the two. Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) had given Bieber an impressive $40 million advance for his Justice World Tour, which commenced in February 2022, after it was twice postponed — from 2020, and then 2021 — due to the coronavirus pandemic. After it finally got under way, Bieber ending up cancelling 14 concerts scheduled for June and July 2022 when he suffered temporary facial paralysis as a result of Ramsay Hunt syndrome. He resumed touring for a short stint from late April 2022 through early September 2022 in Europe, the Nordic countries and Brazil, before canceling the remainder of the tour. Bieber announced to fans that he was 'exhausted' and had to ' make [his] health the priority ' at the recommendation of his doctors. In response to the cancellation, AEG reportedly tried to claw back $24 million of Bieber's original advance, but Braun's company Hybe agreed to step in and front the money for the repayment. In response, Bieber was allegedly required to pay back Hybe in installments spread out over 10 years, but he allegedly stopped paying after just a single installment. Sources claimed that the advance repayment was a major sticking point for Braun, and they alleged that Bieber has finally agreed to repay the amount. According to them, after his wife Hailey Bieber's windfall profit from the sale of her cosmetics company Rhode, Justin was now willing to settle up. Ironically, Hailey's loved ones previously told that they feared that Justin would 'take advantage of her kindness' and use the payout to cover his debts. On social media, fans even urged the model to divorce her husband in hopes of protecting her new fortune. However, a prominent LA-based divorce attorney recently explained to how Justin could end up walking away with half of Hailey's Rhode money if they should divorce, as they reportedly never signed a prenuptial agreement. Another reported requirement from Braun is that Bieber pay back $11 million he allegedly owes from commissions that were never paid, which was outside the scope of the PwC audit. However, TMZ's sources say Braun is willing to settle the debt for 'pennies on the dollar,' which could be a major break for Bieber. TMZ previously reported that Bieber was 'broke' at the time that AEG came knocking for its $24 million repayment, leading Braun's company to cover the full amount while Bieber signed an agreement to repay Hybe over 10 years. But the payments reportedly ceased after just one installment, and sources close to Braun claimed to TMZ that the singer said he simply couldn't afford to keep paying. But sources close to Bieber alleged that he stopped paying because his business manager had dug through old transactions and determined that the singer had overpaid Hybe by $26 million. In response to that claim, Hybe reportedly performed an internal audit, which came to a drastically different conclusion: that Bieber owed $1 million even before his agreement to pay back the $24 million. Bieber's team disputed the internal audit over fears that it could have been influenced to come out in Hybe's favor, which led the company to commission the independent audit from PwC that determined Bieber owed even more money, to the tune of $8 million. Braun was once best known as the manager for major artists — including Justin, Ariana Grande (pictured) and Kanye West — before he announced last year that he was retiring from managing Braun was recently in the news after his years-long feud with Taylor Swift — which resulted from his purchase of her master recordings — reached a conclusion of sorts when the singer was finally able to buy back all of her early recordings for an unreported price. But Braun was recently swept into more drama involving the country singer–turned–pop star, as her former friend Blake Lively has subpoenaed him as part of her sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us costar and director, Justin Baldoni. The subpoenas seek documents regarding the crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan — who was named in Lively's bombshell suit against Baldoni — as well as information on work she did for Baldoni. Braun was once best known as the manager for major artists — including Justin, Ariana Grande, Kanye West and more — before he announced last year that he would no longer be managing artists.
Forbes
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Taylor Swift's ‘Reputation' Finally Reaches The Top 10
Consumption of Taylor Swift's albums exploded recently, after in late May, the singer-songwriter revealed that she had purchased the master rights to her first six albums. That deal officially ended a years-long feud with Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings, which had purchased them away from her years ago, prompting her to begin releasing Taylor's Versions of her projects. This latest move puts Swift back in control of the music that made her a household name. Following the exciting development, millions of fans rushed to buy and stream her catalog once again. Much of the focus was on Reputation, a set many had expected would be next in her re-recordings series. While an updated version of the 2017 project may never materialize, fans continue to celebrate the original — and this week, they've pushed it to new heights. This frame, Reputation lands at No. 10 on Billboard's Top Streaming Albums chart, breaking into the loftiest tier for the very first time. The full-length effort reaches the top 10 more than a year and a half after it first returned to the tally in October 2023, and 43 weeks into its current run. As Reputation climbs, Swift now claims five top 10 wins on the Top Streaming Albums chart. That's exactly half of the 10 sets she's pushed onto the list. The tally includes two No. 1s, The Tortured Poets Department and 1989 (Taylor's Version), both of which led for multiple frames. In addition to returning to the Top Streaming Albums chart, Reputation also reenters both the Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums rankings. In both cases, it can now be found inside the top 10 once more. Purchases of the project grew by nearly 1,200% compared to the previous period, following Swift's greenlight for fans to once again buy Reputation. For years, many had avoided doing so, as sales would have financially benefited the former rights holders — a group Swift was not part of and did not support. On the Billboard 200 — the only chart where Reputation doesn't need to reappear — the album manages a huge leap from No. 78 to No. 5. This marks its three-hundred-and-fiftieth frame on the tally, and it lands higher than it's appeared in many years.
