Taylor Swift’s big night; Britney Spears’ new pop-up
Hollywood Nation: Taylor Swift will be honored with the coveted Artist of the Decade award at the 2019 American Music Awards ceremony; Britney Spears is giving devoted followers the ultimate fan experience with a Los Angeles pop-up and retail shop celebrating the pop star’s iconic career opening in January 2020.
Scooter Braun is allegedly unhappy with the way his business partner Scott Borchetta has handled their ongoing public schism with Taylor Swift, according to a new report by E! News.
“Scooter is frustrated because his name is being dragged in the mud,” an insider told the outlet on Monday. “He doesn’t run Big Machine or have operational control of [the] company. He hasn’t taken part in these negotiations.”
In the midst of an ongoing public fissure between Swift and her former record label, Big Machine Records, Braun, 38 – who reps the likes of Justin Beiber, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande – has been trying to get a hold of Swift, 29, however the “Bad Blood” songstress allegedly hasn’t been returning Braun’s calls, the source further claimed to the outlet.
Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta pose for a photo at a private residence on June 28, 2019 in Montecito, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Ithaca Holdings)
“This fight with Taylor is not something Scooter agrees with,” the insider added of the continuing spat.
On Monday, Big Machine Records issued a statement that appeared to make it possible for Swift to perform her songs at the upcoming American Music Awards after Swift publicly scolded her former label, accusing the Braun-owned company of preventing her from performing her earlier hits, to which they own the master recordings, at the AMAs
A LONG, DRAWN OUT HISTORY OF TAYLOR SWIFT’S FEUDS
The statement, which was obtained by Variety, claimed that Big Machine and Dick Clark Productions had “come to terms on a licensing agreement that approves their artists’ performances to stream post show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platform.” The agreement maintained that it would not only cover Swift’s performance, but the performance of Thomas Rhett as well.
“It should be noted that recording artists do not need label approval for live performances on television or any other live media. Record label approval is only needed for contracted artists’ audio and visual recordings and in determining how those works are distributed,” the statement continued.
However, shortly after news broke on Monday that the two companies had come to an agreement on the use of Swift’s music, Dick Clark Productions denied that it had settled on an arrangement with the music label.
Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Label Group, home to Swift’s first six albums, including the Grammy winners for album of the year, 2008’s “Fearless” and 2014’s “1989.” (Photos by Richard Shotwell, left, and Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP)
“At no time did Dick Clark Productions agree to, create, authorize or distribute a statement in partnership with Big Machine Label Group regarding Taylor Swift’s performance at the 2019 American Music Awards,” the production company said in a separate statement to Rolling Stone. “Any final agreement on this matter needs to be made directly with Taylor Swift’s management team. We have no further comment.”
On Thursday, Swift took to social media and accused Braun, Borchetta and Big Machine of also disallowing the production of a Netflix documentary she has been working on where her music was to be used.
The company flat-out denied the allegations in a statement shared to its website.
“As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her tumblr statements yesterday based on false information,” the statement read. “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere. Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.”
“The truth is, Taylor has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career,” the statement continued. “We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward.
“We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families,” the statement concluded.
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Swift’s rep told Fox News that this, too, was not the whole truth. “Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them but, an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years.”
A rep for Braun did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Fox News’ Jessica Napoli contributed to this report.
