Ariana Grande Supports Taylor Swift Amid Scooter Braun Dispute
Ariana Grande is weighing in following Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun’s feud.
On Sunday (June 30), it was announced that Braun’s Ithaca Holdings had acquired Swift’s former label Big Machine Label Group. Swift responded in a lengthy Tumblr post, calling it a “worst case scenario” and saying how “sad and grossed out” she was over the deal, which gives Braun ownership over her first six albums.
“For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work,” she began. “Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in.”
She also called out Braun’s clients Bieber and Kanye West, posting a screenshot from Bieber’s Instagram that showed Bieber FaceTiming with West and Braun after Kim Kardashian posted an “illegally recorded snippet” of a call between Swift and West about his song “Famous” (which contains the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex”). Bieber’s caption, which has since been deleted, reads “Taylor Swift what up.” She also cited West’s video for “Famous,” which features a nude version of Swift, describing it as “revenge porn.”
“Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” added Swift. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
The deal has caused a divide among Swift’s friends and Braun’s clients. Halsey, JoJo, and Braun’s former client Todrick Hall all penned messages in support of Swift, while Demi Lovato and Bieber sided with their manager.
Taking to Instagram, Bieber addressed Swift and apologized for his “hurtful” caption from her aforementioned post. He claimed Braun had nothing to do with the post and accused Swift of being a “bully” for airing out her grievances on social media. “Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you,” he wrote. “I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line.”
After deleting a “congratulations” post from her Instagram Story that celebrated her manager’s new deal, Ariana returned with a message of support for Swift on Monday. “I would never support someone with the intentions of hurting another person,” wrote the “thank u, next” singer. “I spoke to him myself as soon as i heard.. I don’t mean to make this public or get involved but I’ve noticed mixed opinions where people used my name… please spread love. I’m so so sorry Tay. ily. stay strong.”
Grande, who is a longtime client of Braun’s and friends with Swift, added, “deleting in a min. this didn’t happen.”
Apparently Ariana Grande posted this on her (now deleted) Instagram Story 👀 pic.twitter.com/L5EGZ3WrHw
— Taylor Swift Updates (@swiftsupdates) July 1, 2019