Taylor Swift's multi-million feud with Scooter Braun gets unpacked by a cast of journalists, fans, lawyers, and employees in Discovery+ and Max's docuseries,
Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood tackles the two sides of the story which led to Swift's re-recording of her studio albums after Braun purchased her master recordings.
The docuseries gives an inside look at the music industry practices, fandom culture, and the ramifications of Swift and Bruan's feud.
Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood premiered on Discovery+ UK and Max on June 21.
Every Main Subject & Interviewee in Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood
Subjects:
Taylor Swift
- Instagram: @taylorswift
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is front and center in Discovery+'s new docuseries as her issues with Scooter Braun take the spotlight.
The clash between Swift and Braun began back in November 2019 after Scott Borchetta, the CEO of Big Machine Records, sold the label and the masters of her early work to Braun.
That pivotal moment ultimately led to a lengthy (and expensive) battle where Swift used all the resources necessary to fire back against Braun, making moves such as re-recording her album, rallying fans on Tumblr, and legal action.
Swift even released Folklore in 2020 and some of the lyrics from her new music seemingly called out Scooter and Scott.
Scooter Braun
- Instagram: @scooterbraun
Scooter Braun is a high-profile manager who previously worked with bonafide stars like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Kanye West (the latter of which has his own issues with Taylor Swift).
Scooter's side of the story is chronicled in the Scooter's Version of the docuseries which revealed that Swift "refused to negotiate" and she caused a public feud to gain sympathy from her fans.
After a lengthy battle that started in 2019, reports emerged (via Billboard) in August 2023 that Scooter had started to lose some of his big-time clients, starting with Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato.
In the present day, Scooter has already retired from music management.
Scott Borchetta
- Instagram: @scott.borchetta
Scott Borchetta is the founder, president, and CEO of Big Machine Label Group.
Prior to the conflict, Taylor Swift worked closely with Borchetta, with him even signing the singer-songwriter as one of the first artists for his label.
However, Borchetta and Scooter Braun's deal left a bad taste in Swift, with the pop superstar claiming that she was blindsided by the sale since she found out when everyone else did.
Borchetta fired back, pointing out that he informed Swift about the sale before it was even made public.
Interviewees:
Mikael Wood
Mikael Wood is a music journalist at the LA Times who joins the cast of interviewees in Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood to catch fans up to speed about the whole debacle between Swift and Braun.
Wood also gives his thoughts about what's going on in Taylor Swift's mind during the historic sale that happened in November 2019 as well as other pivotal moments throughout the conflict.
Zing Tseng
- Instagram: @miss_zing
Zing Tseng, an author and journalist, is part of the conversation in the Discovery+ docuseries as she helps unpack how the conflict with Scooter Braun affected Taylor Swift's mindset moving forward.
Brittany Spanos
Brittany Spanos is a writer at Rolling Stone who helps dissect what happened between Taylor Swift and Kanye West during the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, a conflict that carried over to the current fiasco between Swift and Scooter Braun.
Brian Mansfield
- Instagram: @brian_mansfield
Brian Mansfield is a journalist from Nashville and one of Taylor Swift's friends.
Mansfield talks about Swift's career from her teenage days to the present day, noting the singer-songwriter's impressive growth since her debut in the music scene.
He also notes how he met Taylor Swift during an industry dinner which started their friendship.
Zack Hourihane
- Instagram: @hourihandsome
Longtime Taylor Swift fan and podcast host Zack Hourihane appears in the docuseries to showcase his collection that cements himself as one of the diehard supporters of the global pop superstar.
Dr. Amelia Morris
As a cultural theorist from the University of Exeter, Dr. Amelia Morris discusses Taylor Swift's meteoric rise to popularity and how it is on par with other icons like The Beatles and Bob Dylan.
Dr. Morris praises Swift's consistency in making sure that her personality and history are present throughout her songwriting.
Alex Goldschmidt
- Instagram: @alexandergold
Another huge Taylor Swift fan and a good friend of hers who joins the conversations is Alex Goldschmidt.
Alex points out that Taylor always just emphasizes her career as well as rewarding fans and surprising them with good vibes whenever the situation arises.
In fact, Taylor even attended Alex's engagement party with her husband after learning about his proposal.
Anna Silman
Anna Silman is an investigative reporter from Business Insider who talks about Scooter Braun and his immense background handling A-list talents like Justin Bieber.
Silman notes that Scooter has the desire to be known, saying, "He didn't just want to be an artist manager. He wanted to have an empire."
Heather Wirth
Heather Wirth is Taylor Swift's personal assistant during the singer's The 1989 tour.
Wirth gives an overview of her duties as a personal assistant, such as dealing with the paparazzi and driving her from point A to point B amid the ongoing tour.
Richard Busch
Richard Busch is an entertainment attorney who explains Taylor Swift's first 13 years with Big Machine Label Group and how she was committed to delivering six albums during her stint.
Busch also discusses the songwriter's rights to a song, pointing out, "The songwriter owns the publishing the moment he or she writes the song."
Lucas Shaw
- Instagram: @lucas_shaw
Lucas Shaw, a reporter and journalist from Bloomberg, whose main focus in Episode 2 is to unpack who Scooter Braun is and his impact on the entertainment industry.
Lucas believes that Swift didn't get the chance to buy her music in the way that she wanted and she felt that she was wronged by Scott Borchetta.
Alex Bhattacharji
Alex Bhattacharji is a journalist and editor who appears in Episode 2 of Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood.
Alex talks about Scooter's unique management style where he becomes a big brother to the artists that he manages and how it is an effective way in cementing strong working relationships.
Dr. Jennifer Otter Bickerdike
Dr. Jennifer Otter Bickerdike joins the cast of interviewees in Episode 2 as she gives her insight into the early partnership between Taylor Swift and Scott Borchetta and how it was a successful working relationship at first.
Marina Bogorad
Marina Bogorad, a music and commercial attorney, gives her thoughts about the clash between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun in Episode 2.
Marina explains that Swift did try to buy her Masters, but it didn't ultimately happen. It then went on an open market and Scooter became the worthy buyer.
Neama Rahmani
Working as a legal analyst, Neama Rahmani discusses copyright law and its three components namely the lyrics, the music, and the recording.
Rahmani points out that the artist owns the song if he or she is the one who wrote it, noting that they own the rights to the lyrics and the music. However, the recording company owns the rights to the recording.
Howard King
Another music and entertainment attorney who joins the cast is Howard King.
Right off the bat, Howard points out that she sees no evidence that anything was stolen from Taylor Swift and he also reviews the document which is the last offer of Big Machine to the pop superstar.
Nola Ojomu
- Instagram: @nolamarianna
Nola Ojomu is a senior entertainment reporter from the Daily Mail who discusses the involvement of Big Machine board member Eric Logan and how he called Taylor Swift out to dismiss her claims against the company.
Rachel Brodsky
- Instagram: @rebrods
Rachel Brodsky is a culture writer, editor, and podcaster who talks about the emergence of fan armies and their impact on the lives of the artists they support.
Rachel admits that these fan armies create a feeling of mob mentality if they are fixated on a certain goal anchored by their desire to please their respective artist.
Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood is now streaming on Max.
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