- Scooter Braun has finally opened up about the infamous controversy with Taylor Swift.
- He shared that he’s had minimal interaction with the pop star, despite their very public feud.
- The music executive claimed he barely knew the global pop star before the drama exploded.
The infamous feud between Taylor Swift and Sydney Sweeney's boyfriend Scooter Braun has been in public for a while now. Until now, however, the public narrative has largely been shaped by Swift's side of the story, especially after the singer began re-recording her first six albums following the masters dispute.
Now, Braun is finally opening up about the controversy and sharing that he's had minimal interaction with the pop star, despite their very public feud.
Speaking on the “Second Thought” podcast, the music executive claimed he barely knew the global pop star before the drama exploded.
“I don't know Taylor Swift. I think I've met her in my life three times,” Braun said during the podcast episode released Thursday. “I have never had a substantial conversation with her in my life.”
The businessman explained he had been invited to a private party hosted by Swift in the past where they both expressed that they have the ‘utmost respect' for each other at the time. But their interactions were limited to brief encounters.
“But that was really the extent of our interactions,” he said, adding, “I will never truly understand that situation to this day. I wish her nothing but the best.”
Braun also addressed what he called a major misconception surrounding the controversy.
“I think there's this big misconception that we knew each other and had this feud and I managed her for years,” the record executive explained. “People are usually shocked to find out that I legitimately don't know her.”
The businessman admitted that the situation quickly turned him into a public villain but said it ultimately sparked an important conversation within the music industry about artists owning their work.
“I think what it did bring to light is that artists are going to start wanting to own their masters,” Braun said. “And I think that's great.”
How It All Started?
The feud dates back to 2019 when Braun purchased the rights of her former record label, Big Machine Records, in a deal reportedly worth around $300 million. That purchase gave him ownership of the master recordings of Swift's first six albums — Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation.
Swift later publicly condemned the deal, claiming she was never given the opportunity to buy her own music catalog.
In a scathing Tumblr post, Swift shared that she was devastated that her master recordings had been sold off to Braun in a $300 million deal.
Posting on Tumblr in 2019, she wrote, “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.”
She also accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and said learning he had acquired her music was her “worst nightmare.”
Taylor Swift Re-Record's Her Music
Investment firm Shamrock Capital ended up purchasing Swift's music from Braun in November 2020. The singer later embarked on an ambitious mission to re-record her early albums in an effort to regain control of her music and ownership rights.
Then in May 2025, she announced she had officially bought back her masters from Shamrock Capital.
“I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away,” she wrote in an emotional message to her fans posted on her website. “But that's all in the past now. I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found that this is really happening. I really get to say those words.”
“All of the music I've ever made … now belongs … to me,” Swift wrote in an emotional message to fans.
Braun later reacted positively to the news, saying he was “happy” for the singer after she successfully regained ownership of her catalog.