AMAs 2019: Taylor Swift Stuns on Red Carpet Following Scooter Braun, Scott Borchetta Drama

Taylor Swift had a triumphant arrival on the red carpet at the AMAs in the midst of her drama with former manager Scooter Braun. The singer has been fighting for her intellectual and creative rights in recent weeks, and fans are firmly on her side. They were pleased to see her put up a strong form this weekend.

Swift has been desperately trying to get the rights to her own music back from Big Machine Label Group, its CEO Scott Borchetta, and Braun in recent weeks. She took to Twitter earlier this month in desperation, saying that she did not want to go public with the dispute, but she felt she had no choice.

On Sunday, fans cheered Swift both in person and on social media as she walked the red carpet at the American Music Awards. She wore a glittery green gown with thigh-high black boots, stopping to strike a pose for reporters. Many had their eye out for some hint of how the conflict was wearing on her, but Swift put put on a brave face as she entered the ceremony.

Swift’s ongoing legal battle will keep her off the stage at the award show this year. She was meant to perform “a medley of [her] hits throughout the decade on the show,” but Borchetta and Braun argued that this constituted “re-recording” the songs while they still own the rights for one more year.

The whole situation casts a dark cloud over what should be a great day for Swift. She is being honored with the Artist of the Decade Award at the AMAs for her contributions to pop culture in the last ten years — a prestigious honor that first went to Garth Brooks in 2000. It was skipped over in 2010, so it is extra special to get this year’s award.

Braun finally issued a public response to Swift on Thursday, just a few days before the awards. He spoke at a Q&A at the 2019 Entertainment Industry Conference, according to Variety, saying that he he would prefer to let things play out in court.

“When there’s a lot of things being said and a lot of different opinions, yet the principals haven’t had a chance to speak to each other, there’s a lot of confusion. I’m not going to go into details here, because it’s just not my style,” Braun said.

“I just think we live in a time of toxic division, and of people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out on each other and not have conversations,” he continued. “And 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.”

The AMAs are live on Sunday night from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on ABC.