Halsey, Little Mix and Miley Cyrus back Taylor Swift in row with Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun
TAYLOR Swift’s powerful music industry friends have backed her in the row with Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun – by unfollowing him online.
Halsey, Little Mix and Miley Cyrus have all deleted Scooter from social media – and eagle eyed fans spotted it straight away.
Other big names – like Camila Cabello, Harry Styles, Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco and Joe Jonas – also unfollowed Scooter in a show of support for Taylor.
And hours later, even more popstars – including Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Lana Del Rey and Iggy Azalea – unfollowed him too. Halsey wrote a post about it, backing Taylor and saying: "Taylor Swift is a huge reason why I always insisted to write my own music. I believed if she did it than I should too."
The mass unfollowing came after Taylor went to war with Scooter and his client Justin in protest at Scooter’s buying her entire back catalogue in a secret £236m deal.
In a lengthy social media post, Taylor wrote how devastated she was that her record label, Big Machine Records, had sold the rights to her music to Scooter, who she called a “bully”.
“I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years,” she wrote.
“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... This is my worst-case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept.
"Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. 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. In perpetuity. That means forever."
Taylor’s close friend Cara Delevigne wrote a long Instagram post to back her friend, and slam Justin Bieber, who had backed his manager with a post on social media.
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“I wish you spent less time sticking up for men and more time trying to understand women and respecting their valid reactions,” she wrote.
“As a married man, you should be lifting women up instead of tearing them down because you are threatened.”
And model Martha Hunt wrote on Twitter: “Taylor doesn’t deserve for someone who has constantly BULLIED her to OWN THE RIGHTS to her blood, sweat, + tears. It’s not the dark ages - artists shouldn’t be held down, and I couldn’t be prouder of my friend for standing up for what’s right. End of story.
“This is about protecting artists. Taylor courageously exposed a grown man who has time + time again proven his obsession with holding her down, like his reputation precedes him. He doesn’t deserve a morsel of control over the archives of her past.”
However, Scooter’s client, Justin Bieber, and his wife, Yael, have stood up for him, denying he’s done anything wrong.
"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,” wrote Justin.
And Yael said: “My husband is anything but a bully, he's spent his life standing up for people and causes he believes in.”
Scooter himself hasn’t commented on Taylor’s rant – but has reposted congratulations from friends and family on his Instagram Stories.
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