Big Machine's Scott Borchetta Fires Back at Taylor Swift's Claims With Details of Scooter Braun Deal

Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta responded to Taylor Swift's claim she was not told [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta responded to Taylor Swift's claim she was not told about the record label's sale to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings Sunday before it was announced. Borchetta pointed out that Swift's father Scott Swift was a shareholder in the company and was told before Sunday. The record executive also claimed to have personally reached out to Swift and made public the documents to back him up.

According to Borchetta, all shareholders were told about the "pending deal" with Ithaca during a June 25 call and were given three days to look at the details. A final call was held on June 28, and the majority of shareholders voted to approve the sale.

Out of courtesy, Borchetta said he texted Swift about the deal at 9:06 p.m. on Saturday before Billboard reported on the deal.

"I guess it might somehow be possible that her dad Scott, 13 Management lawyer Jay Schaudies (who represented Scott Swift on the shareholder calls) or 13 Management executive and Big Machine LLC shareholder Frank Bell (who was on the shareholder calls) didn't say anything to Taylor over the prior 5 days," Borchetta wrote. "I guess it's possible that she might not have seen my text. But, I truly doubt that she 'woke up to the news when everyone else did.'"

Borchetta also shared an unprecedented look at the deal Swift was offered to stay with the independent label last year. The executive claims "100% of all Taylor Swift assets were to be transferred to her immediately upon signing the new agreement."

"We are an independent record company," Borchetta wrote. "We do not have tens of thousands of artists and recordings. My offer to Taylor, for the size of our company, was extraordinary. But it was also all I could offer as I am responsible for dozens of artists' careers and over 120 executives and their families."

Instead, Swift rejected the deal and agreed to sign with Universal Music Group last year. Borchetta said Swift was given "every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave."

As for Swift's relationship with Braun, Borchetta said he never knew Braun to be anything but supportive of Swift's career.

At the end of his statement, Borchetta included the text from a message Swift sent him in November when she chose to leave his label and the message he sent her on Saturday.

On Sunday, Swift responded to the deal in a long Tumblr post, in which she claimed she was trying "for years" to own her master recordings. She claimed Big Machine's offer gave her the opportunity to "'earn' one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in," instead of getting ownership of her catalog at once.

"I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future," Swift wrote. "I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums."

Swift called the sale to Braun her "worst case scenario," as she claimed he was "someone who tried to dismantle" her career.

Battle lines in the feud between Braun and Swift have already been drawn up. Halsey and Cara Delevingne have publicly voiced support for Swift, while Braun's biggest client, Justin Bieber, defended him. His wife, Yael Cohen Braun, also blasted Swift for her comments.

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/TAS18/Getty Images for TAS

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