Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have reportedly parted ways with Scooter Braun. Photo / Getty Images
Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have reportedly parted ways with Scooter Braun. Photo / Getty Images
News broke this week that Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, (possibly) Justin Bieber, and other high profile musicians have reportedly parted ways with Scooter Braun. The news spurred many rumours and one main question - why?
While the main players like Page Six, The Hollywood Reporter and TMZ are yet to share any scandalous insider information on the matter, many theories have been circulating on social media apps including TikTok.
The current claims suggest a slew of allegations regarding the music giant are about to come to light but of what nature remains unclear.
Braun has been in the game for a long time and managed many major artists including Bieber, Taylor Swift, Grande and many more, but who is he and what does he actually do?
The 42-year-old first gained success as a music manager in the early 2000s after discovering Bieber at a young age through his YouTube videos. Signing the Grammy-winner and working with him ever since saw Braun’s career go from strength to strength.
In 2017, the star organised the bittersweet, “One Love Manchester” — a major charity concert starring Grande, Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Mac Miller, Miley Cyrus and more that came after the terrorist bombing outside a Grande concert in which 22 people died — in just two weeks.
Other major career moments have seen Braun sell Ithaca Holdings, the parent company for his SB Projects management business, for US$1.05 billion (NZ$1.77 billion) in 2021 to Hybe America - which he is now the CEO of. The company is behind BTS, which purchased hip-hop label Quality Control and is home to a slew of artists including Lil Baby, Quavo, and Lil Yachty.
However, the reason most people know about the famed music manager is because of his heavily publicised business split and ongoing feud with Taylor Swift. More on that later.
During his time managing, the star has also worked with Tori Kelly, Black Eyed Peas and formerly represented Kanye West (now Ye) off and on.
‘Amicable’ split
Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato were all under Scooter Braun's management. Photo / Getty Images
Billboard reported this week that musical powerhouses Grande and Lovato are parting ways with the controversial music manager, further claiming Bieber is also eyeing up a management change.
One day after Braun posted a sweet happy birthday message for Lovato, an insider close to the singer spoke to the New York Post on Monday revealing the Heart Attack singer - who has been under the star’s management since 2018 - was parting ways with him. They said while she is grateful for her time with Braun’s SB Projects firm, she has decided to move in a different direction.
Shortly after the announcement, Billboard revealed Grande had also decided to leave Braun’s management team, with a source telling People magazine the singer has “outgrown”her former manager. “They are friendly but she’s outgrown him and is excited to go in a different direction,” the source claimed. “Yes there are negotiations happening because of contracts. But this is her choice. It’s time for something new.”
She follows in the footsteps of J. Balvin who ditched the manager in May, according to Vulture.
The seemingly sudden and shock departures have resulted in many questions, but more were to come and this morning it was announced that Broadway actress Idina Menzel has also parted ways with Braun. In a statement issued to Billboard, a source said the “amicable” split happened last year.
Braun steps into ‘larger role’
Scooter Braun is one of the music industry's biggest managers. Photo / Getty Images
Despite the mass departures causing scandalous speculation, sources claim there’s nothing amiss. . A statement was issued to Entertainment Weekly from an unnamed music-industry insider who denied anything bigger is at play, stating people are “spreading rumours” and that Braun is simply stepping into a “larger role”.
“All of Scooter Braun’s clients are under contract and negotiations have been going on for several months as Scooter steps into his larger role as HYBE America CEO,” the source said adding, “People are spreading rumours based on what they know, but they are off. Scooter’s team at SB Projects are still handling both Justin and Ariana as they work through what this new structure looks like.”
Meanwhile, another source told Variety, “He’s getting out of management — he has been for years. That’s the real story.”
It came after news Grande parted ways with Braun amid rumours he is engaged in an alleged rift with pop star Bieber. While representatives for both the famed music manager and the Ghost singer have denied the claims, sources told Page Six, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”. Puck News reporter Matthew Belloni also chimed in on the claims adding multiple sources have told him Bieber and Braun haven’t spoken “in months”.
As for Grande, representatives for the star are yet to comment on the status of her contract with Braun and his company, with some sources claiming she is still working with him.
Controversial past
While the sudden dumpings may be completely innocent, if something more does come out about the famed music manager, it wouldn’t be the first time he has faced controversy.
Grande has been with the manager since 2013 but left him for several months in 2016 before returning soon after. While she never commented on why she briefly left, Braun spoke to Variety in 2018 claiming that after he was fired by the multi-talented star, his team wanted him to speak out but he chose not to.
“They were like, ‘Never take her back!’ but I just said ‘Let’s stay quiet and let our truth be our actions,’”
Braun also insinuated one of Grande’s romantic relationships prompted their working relationship to resume. “And when s***ty boyfriends leave, she starts to see the light on some stuff, and one day I got a phone call.”
Meanwhile, J Balvin signed in 2019 but left “amicably” less than two years later signing with Jay-Z’s entertainment agency Roc Nation Management this May.
Elsewhere, Kid Laroi and Kanye West have both had turbulent relationships with Braun’s company. And it would be hard to forget his explosive relationship with Swift, whose business split and ongoing feud with Braun has been heavily publicised.
Taylor Swift explosively left Braun's management in 2020. Photo / AP
In 2020, Variety reported that Braun’s Ithaca Holdings sold the masters of Swift’s first six albums to an investment fund for more than $400 million, just 17 months after he acquired them amid a fierce backlash from Swift and her fanbase.
At the time of that deal, Swift said she was “sad” and “grossed out” and accused Braun, a prominent industry talent manager, of being behind “incessant, manipulative bullying”.
Now, the pop star is in the process of rerecording her early albums. Taylor’s Versions of Fearless, Red, and Speak Now have all already been made available by the artist and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is set to be released on October 27. All three albums have achieved commercial and critical success, rising swiftly to the top of the Billboard 200 chart.
In a candid Instagram post, the 12-time Grammy winner previously revealed the main reason she’s opting to rerecord her work.
“I’ve spoken a lot about why I’m remaking my first six albums, but the way I’ve chosen to do this will hopefully help illuminate where I’m coming from,” Swift wrote.
“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.”
Still under Braun’s management are the Black Eyed Peas, Carly Rae Jepson and Tori Kelly, among others.
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
