Scooter Braun Claims He’s Received ‘Death Threats’ Following Taylor Swift Dispute

Taylor Swift recently accused Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun of not allowing her to use her old music for both her upcoming American Music Awards performance and an in-the-works Netflix documentary, resulting in a back and forth between Swift and Big Machine. Braun had not publicly commented on the singer’s claims until yesterday, when he shared an Instagram message saying that Swift’s statements had caused her fans to send his family death threats.

“Since your public statement last week there have been numerous death threats directed at my family,” Braun wrote in a message on Instagram on Thursday night. “I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children as well as other threats.”

“Thinking of my wife and children, my team and their families, I have gone through a range of emotions on how to deal with this,” he continued. “I write this now after a deep breath and much reflection. I am certain there is no situation ever worth jeopardizing anyone’s safety.”

Braun told Swift that while he assumed this was not her intention, “it is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways.”

The executive added that he is “disappointed” Swift has “remained silent” after she was notified by her attorney of these “ongoing threats” four days ago. “I’m still hopeful we can fix this,” he continued, writing that he was “shocked” and “disheartened” to hear how upset Swift was at his presence in the original Big Machine deal. Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings, had purchased Swift’s former record label, Big Machine, this summer, giving Braun the rights to the master recordings to all of Swift’s music prior to her most recent album, Lover.

Braun claimed in his message that Swift had rejected all of his calls over the last six months and “it almost feels as if you have no interest in ever resolving the conflict.” “At this point with safety becoming a concern I have no choice other than to publicly ask for us to come together and try to find a resolution,” he wrote, concluding, “This game of telephone isn’t working.”

Earlier that day, Braun had appeared at The Hollywood Chamber’s 2019 State of the Entertainment Industry Conference and addressed the situation, though he did not mention Swift by name.

“I just think we live in a time of toxic division and people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out each other and not have conversations,” he said. “I don’t like politicians doing it; I don’t like anybody doing it. And if that means that I’ve got to be the bad guy longer, I’ll be the bad guy longer, but I’m not going to participate.”

He continued, “I think that these problems that are being discussed can be discussed behind closed doors and figured out pretty easily. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for six months. I just think it’s gotten out of hand.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Terry Wyatt