Earlier today, Taylor Swift expressed her disappointment over the acquisition of her master recordings by music mogul Scooter Braun, calling it “my worst case scenario”. In a lengthy social media post, Swift accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying,” specifically citing an incident in which “Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together [Kanye West and Justin Bieber] to bully me online about it.”
Now, one of those parties mentioned, Justin Bieber, has issued a response. In a post to Instagram, Bieber defended his longtime manager, Braun, while also questioning Swift’s decision to comment publicly about the situation.
Bieber began his note by issuing an apology for the ” hurtful instagram post” which Swift referenced in her original post. “First of all i would like to apologize for posting that hurtful instagram post, at the time i thought it was funny but looking back it was distasteful and insensitive,” Bieber explained. “I have to be honest though it was my caption and post that I screenshoted of scooter and Kanye that said ‘taylor swift what up.’ he didnt have anything to do with it and it wasnt even a part of the conversation in all actuality he was the person who told me not to joke like that..”
From there, Bieber vouched for Braun (“Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you.!”) and said Swift’s public condemnation was unwarranted.
“So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter. Anyway, One thing i know is both scooter and i love you. I feel like the only way to resolve conflict is through communication. So banter back and fourth online i dont believe solves anything. I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or any feelings that need to be addressed. Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you. I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line..
Meanwhile, another prominent pop star, Halsey, has come to Swift’s defense. “It turns my guts that no matter how much power or success a woman has in this life, you are still susceptible to someone coming along and making you feel powerless out of spite,” Halsey wrote in a note posted to Twitter. “It speaks volumes to how far we have to come in the music industry.” She then closed her note by declaring: “I stand with her.”
🦋 @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/1iI2tCr8my
— h (@halsey) June 30, 2019