Scooter Braun makes fun of feud with Taylor Swift on Instagram

Music mogul Scooter Braun poked fun at Taylor Swift on Instagram late Tuesday.

Braun posted that he had “finally” watched the Max documentary “Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood,” which details his long-running feud with the singer and asks whether Swift is “bravely standing up for her art” or whether Braun was “unjustly framed” in their feud. Braun also responded to a news article about Swift hosting a group of famous friends, including Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, at her Rhode Island home last weekend, writing, “How could I not have been invited to this?!?” alongside the hashtag “#laughalittle.”

The dispute between Braun and Swift dates back to 2019, when Braun's Ithaca Holdings acquired the Big Machine Records label, giving it the rights to Swift's first six studio albums.

Swift wrote on Tumblr at the time that she had “begged” to own her music but was ultimately unable to do so. She said she found out at the same time as the public that Braun had purchased her music.

“All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I received from him for years,” Swift said of Braun, claiming he pressured his clients to provoke her online.

“Now Scooter has taken away my life's work that I couldn't buy,” she said. “Basically, my musical legacy is in the hands of someone who tried to destroy it.”

Braun's then-wife denied Swift's allegations, saying that Braun was “anything but a bully” and that Swift had “missed” the opportunity to acquire the master licenses for her albums.

Since then, Swift has continued to attack Braun in her public statements and even seemed to do so in her music.

In November 2020, it was revealed that Braun had sold Swift's masters to a private equity firm called Shamrock. Swift wrote on social media at the time that she had tried to negotiate with Braun to buy her music from him, but his team had required her to sign a “watertight” non-disclosure agreement to not speak negatively about him in the future.

“He never gave my team a price,” she wrote. “I couldn't sell those master recordings.”

She also said that Shamrock contacted her, after which Swift learned that Braun would still profit from her music even after purchasing the company. Swift said that while she was “hopeful” of a partnership with Shamrock, Braun's involvement was “out of the question” for her, adding that not working with Shamrock was a “sacrifice” she had to make to keep Braun out of her life.

Shamrock responded, “We fully respect and support their decision. While we had hoped for a formal partnership, we also knew this was a possible outcome we considered.”

In 2021, Braun spoke to Variety about his feud with Swift and reflected on his previous takeover of her masters.

“I regret and am saddened that Taylor reacted to the deal in this way. … Everything that happened was very confusing and based on no fact,” he said, later adding, “I am firmly opposed to anyone ever being bullied.”