Fans Think Taylor Swift Shaded Scooter Braun During First Performance Since the Drama

Taylor Swift caused a stir on social media during her performance Wednesday night at the Amazon Prime Day concert, where fans swear up and down she was throwing shade at music industry heavyweight Scooter Braun. After opening her set at Hammerstein Ballroom with “ME!”, Swift sang her hits like “Welcome to New York,” “Blank Space,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “Love Story” before she launched into “Shake It Off.”

In “Shake It Off,” fans went wild when she seemed to enunciate a particular set of lyrics much more clearly and loudly than the others: “Just think while you’ve been getting down and out about the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats in the world, you could have been getting down to this sick beat.”

In videos circulating social media of the performance, the 29-year-old put particularly strong emphasis on the words “liars and dirty, dirty cheats of the world,” which many of her fans assumed was her way of taking a swipe at Braun and her old record label, Big Machine.

Although she didn’t outright mention any names during her set, fans felt it was a clear shot after her public feud last week with Braun and Big Machine executive Scott Borchetta.

The feud made headlines after she published a lengthy Tumblr blog post accusing Braun of bulling her by purchasing her music catalog through the acquisition of her former record label. While many fans felt sympathetic toward Swift’s argument that record artists should be able to own 100 percent of their own work, others felt she went about it in the wrong way. Some celebrities, including Braun’s clients Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato, even stood up for him. Borchetta also fired back at the singer.

Meanwhile, the Prime Day concert also marked Swift’s first live performance of her newest single, “You Need to Calm Down.” She headlined the show, presented by Amazon Music exclusively for Prime members, which also featured Dua Lipa, SZA and Becky G.