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Scooter Braun says he’s still confused about his headline-making feud with Taylor Swift.
“[I] went from being like, loved and appreciated for over a decade to literally a villain the next night. I don’t want to go into that, but I will say something that will really sum it up that I don’t know if I’ve ever really said,” Braun, 44, said on the Thursday, May 28, episode of Suzy Weiss’ “Second Thought” podcast. “I don’t know Taylor Swift. I think I’ve met her in my life three times.”
Braun continued, “I have never had a substantial conversation with her in my life. I one time got invited to a private party by her. She told me she had the utmost respect for me. I told her I had the most respect for her. You don’t spend $300 million buying a label that she’s on unless you’re excited at the opportunity to work with her.”
Swift, 36, and Braun were publicly at odds in 2019 when the music manager’s company bought Big Machine Label Group, to which the pop star was signed at the start of her career. With the purchase, Braun gained control of the master recordings for Swift’s first six albums. Swift publicly slammed the deal, claiming that she was not given the chance to buy her masters herself. She also accused Braun and his then-clients of bullying her. Braun’s then-client Justin Bieber added fuel to the fire between the talent manager and Swift. Amid the drama, Bieber, who also has a long history of ups and downs with the “Anti-Hero” singer, claimed Braun had her back when she “graciously let” Bieber open for her.
While appearing on “Second Thought,” Braun claimed that he had “no contact” with Swift prior to the Big Machine deal.
“I think I spoke to her, really, once for like more than two minutes. But it was a very nice conversation. And beyond that, nothing ever,” he alleged. “And then the three years prior to us buying Big Machine, she and I had no contact. I think it was two years. The party was like two years earlier or three years earlier, and then never had any contact through the whole thing. So I’m just as confused that this is part of my life as you are. But, I choose to learn and grow from it.”
After Braun acquired Swift’s albums, she was inspired to release rerecordings and release them as special editions, dubbed “Taylor’s Version.” Braun ultimately sold Swift’s masters to the private equity firm Shamrock Capital for a reported $405 million in November 2020. In May 2025, Swift announced that she was able to buy back her masters.
Looking back on it now, Braun shared that he “never truly” understood the situation but wishes Swift “nothing but the best.”
“I learned a tremendous amount from it. I chose to grow from it. I’m grateful for it at this point in my life,” he said on Thursday. “But I think there’s this big misconception that, like, we knew each other and we had this feud and I managed her for years. And people are usually shocked to find out that I legitimately don’t know her and didn’t have many interactions with her and never really knew her.”
Braun added that Swift’s fight for her masters’ did some good for all music artists.
“Labels make bets on artists, and they own the masters and the artists own their publishing. Artists end up selling their publishing whether they need the money or decide they want to sell, and the labels are very, very well-funded so they don’t have to transact the masters. The majority, to this day, of masters are still owned by labels,” he said. “As confusing as [the situation was] to me, I think what it did bring to light is that artists are going to start wanting to own their masters, and I think you’re seeing artists more and more do that, and I think that’s great.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Swift’s spokesperson for comment.
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