Taylor Swift Lashes Out At Scooter Braun For Unauthorized Release Of New Live Album: Just Another Case Of Shameless Greed

Taylor Swift Lashes Out At Scooter Braun For Unauthorized Release Of New Live Album: Just Another Case Of Shameless Greed

Taylor Swift appears to be caught in another beef, just weeks after she went head to head with Kim Kardashian West over her 10-year-old feud with Kanye West last month.

Kanye West, Taylor Swift

This time, she’s caught up yet again with all-star celebrity manager Scooter Braun, who she also called out last year for refusing to sell her back the royalties to her songs. In her Instagram stories, Taylor Swift posted a statement to her fans, suggesting that her label was planning on releasing her music without her knowing about it.

“Hey guys I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former record label is putting out an “album” of live performances of mine tonight. This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they’re actually releasing it tonight at midnight.”

“I’m always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me. It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial bankers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros and the Soros Family, and the Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 million for my music wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money.”

In my opinion… just another case of shameless greed in the time of coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent.”

 

Back in November, we also reported that after purchasing the masters to some of her biggest songs (read about that here), Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta were allegedly stopping Taylor Swift from performing those songs when she was honored with the Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards.

She lashed out at Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun on Instagram on Nov. 14,

“Guys – it’s been announced recently that the American Music Awards will be honoring me with the Artist of the Decade Award at this year’s ceremony. I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.”

She went on to announce that she landed a Netflix documentary about her career and life, but won’t be able to feature her old songs on there either.

“Additionally – and this isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news – Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years. Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film.”

She added that Scott Borchetta said they would only let her use the songs if she promised not to re-record new versions of them in 2020, and if she stopped talking about him and Scooter Braun. Taylor went on to explain that she wanted to reveal what was happening to her to possibly prevent other artists from going down the same road.

“The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished. This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans.”

She then asked fans to tell Braun and Borchetta that they’re wrong. She also requested help from The Carlyle Group, which had a hand in selling her music to Braun and Borchetta. 

In the update from Thursday (April 23), fans had apparently warned Taylor about the release of new music after a record called Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 suddenly popped up on her streaming service profiles. As of Friday (April 24) there has been no word from Scooter Braun or Big Machine Records as to whether or not the album will be released.

What do you guys think of the continuing battle between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Authored by: Chelsea Adjalla