Taylor Swift‘s former record label, Big Machine Label Group, and its founder are speaking out after the singer slammed Scooter Braun for purchasing her music catalog for $300 million.
Along with sharing the conversations he previously had with Swift, 29, about the rights to her past music projects, Borchetta also denied her claims about Braun’s “bullying” of which the star wrote on Tumblr: “Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them.”
Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Borchetta, whose rep declined to comment to PEOPLE, defended new business partner Braun.
Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun.Leon Bennett/FilmMagic; John Salangsang/Variety/Shutterstock
“Was I aware of some prior issues between Taylor andJustin Bieber? Yes. But there were also times where Taylor knew that I was close to Scooter and that Scooter was a very good source of information for upcoming album releases, tours, etc, and I’d reach out to him for information on our behalf,” Borchetta continued.
“Scooter was never anything but positive about Taylor. He called me directly about Manchester to see if Taylor would participate (she declined),” he said, referring to Braun’s clientAriana Grande‘sManchester One Love concertthat raised funds for the victims of the May 2017 terrorist attack outside her concert that killed 22 and injured over 100 people.
“Scooter has always been and will continue to be a supporter and honest custodian for Taylor and her music,” he added.
Taylor Swift.Craig Barritt/Getty Images
Borchetta also responded to Swift’s rep who told PEOPLE in a statement that the Grammy-nominated artist “found out from the news articleswhen she woke upbefore seeing any text from Scott Borchetta and he did not call her in advance.”
“I personally texted Taylor at 9:06pm, Saturday, June 29th to inform her prior to the story breaking on the morning of Sunday, June 30th so she could hear it directly from me,” he said. “I guess it’s possible that she might not have seen my text. But, I truly doubt that she ‘woke up to the news when everyone else did.’ ”
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However, a spokesperson for Swift refuted TMZ’s claim, telling PEOPLE: “Scott Swift is not on the board of directors and has never been. On June 25, there was a shareholder phone call that Scott Swift did not participate in due to a very strict NDA that bound all shareholders and prohibited any discussion at all without risk of severe penalty. Her dad did not join that call because he did not want to be required to withhold any information from his own daughter.”
(L-R) Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; John Salangsang/Variety/Shutterstock
In her Tumblr post on Sunday, Swift, whosenew albumLoverhits shelves Aug. 23, wrote about learning that it was Braun who had ultimately purchased her masters from Borchetta, calling it her “worst nightmare.”
“Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” she wrote. “This is my worst case scenario.”
Swift added of Borchetta, “This is what happens when you sign a deal at 15 to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value,’ he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.”
Among many of Swift’s friends to speak out in support of her was Cara Delevingne, who commented on Bieber’s Instagram response in which he accused Swift of “crossing a line” in her Tumblr post.
“As you said, you haven’t spoken to her in years which means you definitely don’t understand the situation. I do. Take a step back and try and learn from this. We should all be on the same team. End of story,” Delevingne concluded.
A rep for Braun declined to comment to PEOPLE.
source: people.com
