Justin Bieber Slams Taylor Swift for ‘Crossing a Line’ in Message About Manager Scooter Braun

Justin Bieber took to Instagram to defend his manager, Scooter Braun, shortly after Taylor Swift accused Braun of “bullying” in her reaction to Braun’s purchase of Big Machine Records. At the top of her post, Swift included a screenshot of an old Bieber Instagram post, which she claimed was an example of Braun’s bullying tactics. Bieber said this was “crossing a line.”

The drama all began with the breaking news on Sunday morning that Braun bought Swift’s former record label, Big Machine, which would allow him to have ownership of her original master recordings. Swift was not happy about the deal, claiming she only heard about after seeing the announcement.

After reading it, “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years,” Swift wrote on her blog over at Tumblr.

Above the post, Swift included an old Bieber post showing him FaceTiming Braun and Kanye West after Kim Kardashian leaked an illegally recorded phone conversation she had with West. “This is Scooter Braun, bullying me on social media when I was at my lowest point. He’s about to own all the music I ever made,” Swift wrote on the image.

“Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” Swift wrote, before calling the deal her “worst case scenario.”

Bieber defended Braun on Instagram after reading Swift’s essay, slamming the “You Need to Calm Down” singer. In his own lengthy response, Bieber said Braun “has had [Taylor’s] back since the days [she] graciously let [him] open for [her]!”

“As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations,” Bieber wrote, alongside an old photo of the two stars together. “So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy [you] also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter. Anyway, One thing i know is both scooter and i love you.”

Bieber continued went on to chide Swift, adding how the “only way to resolve conflict is through communication.”

“So banter back and fourth online i dont (sic) believe solves anything. I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or any feelings that need to be addressed. Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you. I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line,” he said.

Some of Bieber’s fans were divided by his response. A few suggested he did not really apologize for his role in the Kardashian-Swift feud, while others wondered why he did not personally call her instead of publicly calling Swift out.

“‘Defence (sic) someone’s character’ stop acting like this didn’t happen back in 2016 and the whole world was against her. What you just said makes no sense honestly. Try harder,” one fan wrote.

“‘Seems to me like you were trying to get sympathy’ seems to me that you don’t actually want to apologize,” another chimed in.

“if you believe that banter online doesn’t solve anything, why did you post this and not call her?” one fan asked.

“I’m confused this went from an apology to trying to slam her,” another wrote.

Swift began her career at Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine, but left for Universal Music Group’s Republic Records last year. Her new album, Lover, will be her first release on Republic.

Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, Billboard reported that Braun’s Ithaca Holdings bought Big Machine for more than $300 million.

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/TCA 2011/WireImage/Getty Images