All language subtitles for T.S.v.S.B.B.B.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

[indistinct conversation]

[cheers]

We love you, Taylor!

Taylor Swift is really unique
in that she is
the first musician

to become a billionaire
just solely through music.

Yes!

I don't think
it's an overestimation to say

that Taylor Swift
is the most impactful
songwriter of her generation.

[paparazzi] Scott, right here.

[Mikael Wood] Scott Borchetta,
who signed her to Big Machine,

he sold the label,

and with it her masters
of her early work,

to Scooter Braun,
a very high profile manager,

who managed at various points

Justin Bieber
and Ariana Grande

and, of course,
most importantly, Kanye West

who Taylor had long viewed
as an antagonizer of hers.

[Zing Tsjeng] This was
a huge deal for her

I think psychologically
and emotionally,

turning this contractual
boardroom fight

into something much bigger,

which is about feminism,
it's about women's rights.

[Anna Silman]This was a battle of titans.

It wasn't David
versus Goliath.

It was Goliath versus Goliath.

[fans cheering]

Taylor is very down to earth,
very genuine, very real.

[Zack Hourihane]To have this collection
of moments and stories

taken away from her
and sold without her knowledge

was truly like a gut punch
for her fans.

She knew Scooter expected her
to sit down and shut up
and be a good girl,

and she wasn't going to
take it that way.

[woman 1] I do not see
that he did anything wrong.

He paid for his rights
fair and square.

[man] The truth didn't matter.

She had the ability
to rally her fans.

[woman 2] She literally
called on her fans

to apply pressure on Scooter.

Did you maybe stop
and think about what it means

when you activate your fans
against someone?

[Silman] We're talking
about hundreds
of millions of dollars.

We're talking about
the catalog of one of the most
beloved artists in the world.

There was a lot at stake.

♪ I tell my soul ♪

♪ Only love forgives ♪

♪ Only love forgives ♪

♪ Tell my soul ♪

♪ Only love forgives ♪

♪ Only love forgives ♪

♪ I've been through flame
And fire ♪

♪ It's got me
In a devil's noose ♪

♪ I tell my soul ♪

♪ My soul ♪

♪ Only love
Only love forgives ♪

[keyboard clacking]

-[man 1] Taylor! Taylor!
-[man 2] Taylor.

[chants] Taylor! Taylor!

[Wood] It's 2019 Billboard
Women In Music event.

An industry crowd, insiders,

and Taylor is giving a speech
and says,

"My music was sold out
from underneath me..."

After I was denied the chance
to purchase my music outright.

My entire catalog was sold
to Scooter Braun's
Ithaca Holdings.

None of these investors
have ever bothered

to contact me
or my team directly

to perform their due diligence
on their investment...

On their investment in me.

[Tsjeng] She seems
genuinely in crisis.

She's upset.

You can tell that she is
in kind of freefall
about this.

[Wood] The fact that
someone's bought my catalog

without letting me know...

This isn't right.

This isn't the way
it should be done.

[Tsjeng] Taylor was very good
at turning something

that, to most people,
is a really incomprehensible,
unrelatable situation

in which you are fighting
a boardroom,

you are fighting
a music label,

and turning it into something
really understandable,

which is,
"I've made the songs.

I've created them.
I've written them.
I've sung them.

I deserve to own it."

-[cameras flashing]
-[paparazzi 1] Taylor,
over the shoulder!

[Tsjeng] This became
very much a public dispute

and what is considered
a kind of Scooter
versus Taylor field,

it really goes
all the way back.

It actually has a lot
to do with Kanye West.

[paparazzi 2]
You look wonderful.

[paparazzi 1]
Over the shoulder, Taylor!

-[indistinct conversation]
-[fans cheering]

In 2009, Taylor is making

She was so young
and, you know, she's 19

and she's up against people
like Beyoncé,

who has the song
Single Ladies,

which is one of the biggest
songs of that year.

I mean, you know,
when you're a teenage artist

who's crossing over,
especially from country
to pop music,

this is a massive deal.

Yeah, it feels awesome
anytime I'm on the same list,

as people like Britney Spears
and Beyoncé.

It's like,
I can't even believe that.

I can't believe that
I get to be at the VMAs

and perform and be nominated.

It's a wonderful night.

So when Taylor goes up
to accept the award
for best female music video...

Thank you so much
for giving me a chance
to win a VMA award. I--

Kanye West comes on stage,
interrupts her.

-Yo, Taylor.
-[audience cheering]

I'm really happy for you.
Imma let you finish.

But Beyoncé had one of
the best videos of all time.

One of the best videos
of all time.

[Brittany Spanos]Taylor would talk
about this later,

about how,
after the VMA experience,

she was, of course,
a Kanye West fan.

I was really excited because
I had just won the award

and then I was really excited
because Kanye West
was on the stage.

And then I--

Then I wasn't so excited
anymore after that.

[male reporter] So were you
a fan before?

Yeah, it's Kanye West.

[Spanos] It makes sense
that there is
this extra level of,

"Oh no, a hero of mine
doesn't think
I deserve this award."

[Wood] You know, she's a very
young woman at the time.

She viewed it
as a real violation of her...

Moment in the spotlight,
for sure,

but also of
her artistic authority.

Here she was,
she had been chosen to win.

And here was someone saying
that If you didn't deserve it,
somebody else did it.

So I think right
from the beginning

it's sort of framing this
as Kanye diminishing Taylor
as an artist.

[paparazzi] Kanye,
over here, please.

[Spanos] Taylor hosted SNL
the week after.

[singing] You might be
expecting me to say
something bad about Kanye...

[audience laughing]

...and how he ran up
on the stage

and ruined my VMA monologue.

[heavy sigh]

[continues singing]
But there's nothing more
to say

'cause everything's okay.

I've got security
lining the stage.

[Spanos]She had a great moment

where she's made a joke
about it in her monologue
that she wrote herself

and nipped the whole thing
in the bud,

and Taylor moved on quickly
from the drama
around that night

and just went back
to work and touring.

One of the things
that made Taylor different
from almost anybody else

that American pop culture
had ever seen

is that she was initially
a teenager making music

really for people her own age.

And there have been
very few teenage stars

up until Taylor
that managed to grow

that level of success
into adulthood.

I first met Taylor
because we got seated

next to each other
at an industry dinner

right after she had signed
her record deal
with Big Machine.

Coming into music row,
Big Machine is right here.

That was the building
that Taylor Swift
and Scott Borchetta built.

[Wood] So Big Machine
is a label in Nashville
started by Scott Borchetta,

and Taylor is one of his
earliest acts that he signs.

I think he recognizes
that this is a special talent,

maybe a generational talent.

And Taylor's success,
not surprisingly,
attracts lots of artists.

And the label is a success,
and Borchetta benefits greatly
from that success.

It occurs to me
how lucky I am actually.

I get so excited about it
and I wake up with a smile
on my face,

and honestly never thought
I'd get to do this stuff.

[on recording]I never told you this before.

You have a very
"easy to talk to" stance,

and I don't think
it's anything
you know you're doing.

-[Scott Borchetta] Yeah.
-[Taylor Swift] But it's like,
it's just like, really chill

-and like, we're just talking.
- [Borchetta] Oh good.

-Well, that's what
I'm going for. So...
- [Swift] Yeah.

15-year-old Taylor
was very friendly

and very determined.

She knew
how to talk to people,

she knew
how to connect with people.

She took
songwriting seriously.

She wanted to put in the work
of learning to write songs

before she put in the work
of learning to be famous.

Taylor continued to grow
with her audience,

but also she began
to add people

that didn't pay
any attention to her
when she was a teenager.

And so she not only made
that successful transition

from teen pop star
into major adult music star,

she actually got bigger.

[woman] Do you need help
with those?

No, I'm going to carry them
as long as they'll let me
have them.

She found a way
to connect with people

who were just beginning
to hear her music

and turned them into fans

that felt like
they were friends.

[Hourihane] Taylor Swift
is the world's best friend.

She's really good
at bridging the gap

between I am a famous person
and this is my music.

This is my prized
Taylor Swift merch collection.

This is a collector's item
that I got in 2012.

It's just a really
beautiful construction

of a young girl
trying to figure out her life

while everything is kind of
going wrong around it.

Taylor Swift is hugely
important to me

because her songs,
her albums and her tours

have really soundtracked
the major moments of my life.

For me. I think that,
you know, writing my own songs
was a way to--

To, you know, create
what I wanted to create
and music about my life.

And that way
it kind of became
just a diary put to music

every time I put out
a new record.

[Hourihane] Her unique skill
as a songwriter

and a performer is being able
to say something very personal

and make it feel very general
or universally applicable.

And so I feel hurt
when she's hurt,

and I feel happy
when she's happy.

And I think
that's a really essential part
of being a Taylor Swift fan

is kind of living her life
alongside her.

Growing up as a young gay man
in Singapore,

those songs were really
kind of like little lullabies
that sung me to sleep at night

when I wasn't quite sure
who I was
or where I was going.

It is undeniable
that she is the most impactful
songwriter of our generation

on par with The Beatles,
on par with Bob Dylan.

She has a desire to be seen
as a songwriter,

as someone who has a craft.

Women in pop have historically

and inaccurately
been portrayed

as just cogs in the machine,
as not creative.

So Taylor Swift's real push
to position herself

as a songwriter
first and foremost,
has been immensely impactful.

[fans cheering]

She is able to write
these very personal songs

that invoke imagery
of writing in your diary
in your bedroom as a teenager.

And what's been so interesting
following her career

is the ways
that she's never lost

that intensely personal
way of writing,

even as her life
has got less relatable.

-Hello. Nice to meet you.
-Lisa. How are you?

I'm doing great. How are you?

I wish I hadn't put my--
I just took my heels off
and now--

Oh! And then,
a giant walks up. Yeah.

[Alex Goldschmidt]She's such a nice person.
She's such a kind person.

I got here and there were
all these signs

and people with pictures of me
like outside,

like all the fans
like screaming.

It was amazing.

She has always just put
a strong emphasis
in her career

on rewarding those fans
and surprising them.

And if she's able to
showing up and being there
for important moments

just to show the connection
and the love

that she has for her fans.

There is one secret
that I didn't trust
any of you with.

It's a crazy story,
but I decided to propose
to my husband

while I was listening
to a song from her albumReputation in the car.

The song is calledKing of My Heart.

And so I just wrote her
an email just letting her know

that this song had impacted me
in such a way.

-Hi.
-[all cheering]

Which ended up leading to her
coming to my engagement party

and singing the song
on guitar.

[singing] All at once
you are the one
I have been waiting for.

King of my heart.

Body and soul. Oh-oh.

[Goldschmidt]We all are on this planet
looking for connection,

looking for love,
looking for happiness.

And she has such a skill
at putting those relatable
feelings to music

that it makes the fans
even more feel like
she's their champion.

You know when she's singing
about something

that was truly
heartbreaking or sad,

you do want
to pick up a pitchfork

and be like,
"Who hurt Taylor?"

Give it up
for my friend Justin.

-[audience cheering]
-Give it up for Justin Bieber!

[Silman] I think one thing
to understand is that

Taylor has a really
long history
with a lot of people

that Scooter also has
a long history with,

and I think there's a lot
behind the scenes
that we don't know about.

Justin Bieber is a singer
and he's also being managed
by Scooter Braun.

Scooter Braun is
a talent manager
and a businessman.

He was more than
just a manager.

He was a father figure
to Justin.

I couldn't be more happy
that I met him

and he helped me
get to where I am.

[woman] That's so nice.

In Justin Bieber's
2011 concert documentary,Never Say Never,

Scooter gave himself
a key supporting role.

And he talks
about Taylor Swift

as this inspiration
for Justin.

We got invited
to meet Taylor Swift
at her sold out show.

First time she'd ever
sold out the Garden.

And I remember the kids
are waving their hands
side to side

all around these stands.

[Silman] A lot of managers
are content

to kind of hang
in the background
and be invisible.

But Scooter always wanted
to be out there
and be in front of the camera.

And in clients documentaries
since then,

he's often made himself
a character.

I think he really wants
to be known.

You're in the second row.

-[screams]
-Are you serious? Oh my God!

-You cry when you see him?
-We cried when we saw you.

He didn't just want to be
an artist manager.

He wanted to have an empire.

And he's made really
strategic business decisions

to help make that happen.

I am Heather Wirth,
and I was part
of the 1989 Tour

with Taylor Swift
as her personal assistant.

This is my official badge.

I was going
from state to state,
stadium to stadium,

hotel to hotel, driving her,

dealing with
the paparazzi. [winces]

It's 24/7.
It's always go time.

You know, if she needs you,
you're there.

Taylor is very down to earth.

There's no fakeness to her.

Everything is very genuine,
very real.

-[cameras flashing]
-[paparazzi] Morning, Taylor.
You look beautiful.

Everywhere she went,
she would write down lyrics
or thoughts or maybe ideas.

There was one time where I was
traveling with her on her tour

and she was sitting
in the back of her plane.

I could hear her
just throwing words together.

And then basically
in front of me,

she ended up writing...Ready For It.

When that song came out,
I was like, I know that song.

She wrote that
like, right next to me.

[fans screaming, cheering]

[Heather Wirth]It takes a while for Taylor
to let her guard down.

When I worked with her,
it took her a while with me.

-You wanted to get one?
-[fan] Of course I do!

[Wirth] These tabloids,
they twist things,
constantly twisting it,

while all the paparazzi
and everything.

[girl] Can you get me too?

At the end of the day,
Taylor is just
a normal person,

just like you and me.

[paparazzi shouting]
Taylor! This side!

[Dr. Amelia Morris]She has experienced
a lot of misogyny

in the ways that
she was reduced down
to who she was dating.

The tabloids would
obsessively write about her.

She was positioned
as the bunny boiler.

She's only going to date you
so that she can write
a song about you.

And this just reflects
kind of the immense
double standards

of the ways that famous
musicians are spoken about.

She is not doing anything
different to how artists

like The Beatles
or Harry Styles have written
about their romantic life,

but that's seen as cathartic

whereas Taylor Swift's
songwriting is positioned

as weaponized victimhood.

There was a time where it was
the butt of a lot of jokes.

Her dating life was seen
as a punch line.

You seem to have had
more than your fair share
of breakups?

[laughs] Yeah,
there have been a few.

Who are you seeing
at the moment?

I don't really talk
about that.

-I just kind of--
-Well, why not?
What's wrong with it?

-Because-- [laughs]
-[audience laughing]

There was kind of
a cat and mouse element

to some of
those early interviews.

She would just stop talking
rather than say too much.

You think that you do
maybe get into a relationship
too readily?

Do you give too much
of yourself too soon?

Would that be why
this keeps happening?

I don't know why
people think that.
People think that about me.

That's like I think--

Because you've had so many
[bleep] breakups. That's why.

[audience laughing]

[Brian Mansfield]When I would see
people talking about,

"Oh, she's just going
from guy to guy to guy,"

I knew that I wasn't seeing
anything different

than when I was that age
or when my wife was that age.

When I talked to her
about relationships,

I don't think I saw
how much hearing those things
would have affected her.

I didn't realize
that she was going through

a lot of the things
that she was going through.

Taylor is someone
who very much sticks to
what she believes in.

She knows exactly
who her audience is

and what she wants to present
to them as a role model.

There are a lot of levels
to how bad the music industry
can be for people

and deep rooted sexism
that she has faced
in her career.

In 2013, she says that
she was groped by a radio DJ
called David Mueller

at a meet and greet
and gets photographed.

She subsequently got him
sacked from his job.

He sued her for $3 million
and she countersued him,

saying it was essentially
sexual assault.

And it went to trial.

She actually stood up
and testified,

and a jury ruled in her favor,

and she asked that he pay her
one dollar in damages

as a kind of symbolic result

because it was
more important for her
to win on the principle

rather than to get
any money out of him.

And I think
that tells you something
about her tenaciousness,

but also about the fact
that she is willing
to fight people

who have done her wrong

and just makes her
even more beloved
in the eyes of her fans.

[Wood] The music industry
runs on artists.

It also runs on managers
orchestrating deals,

who are helping artists
steer their careers.

And Scooter was very skilled
at navigating superstardom

on behalf of his clients,

and saw clearly how to create
pop superstars
in a social media age.

I got to ask you. Kanye West,
eight Grammy nominations.

How is he doing?

He's a fantastic individual,
and I am blessed
to call him my friend

and he's doing great.

[Wood] In 2016, Kanye has
his song Famous

where there's a very
inflammatory line in there

where he says that
he might still have sex
with Taylor Swift.

"Why? Because he made
that bitch famous."

And so, you know,
nobody wants to hear this
rapped about them.

I mean, obviously,
that's playing into
all kinds of

misogynistic tropes
about the music industry

that the only way
Taylor got there

was because of
who she had
relationships with.

[Kanye West and crowd rapping]
Southside [bleep]
that know me best.

I feel like me and Taylor
might still have sex.

-Why?
-[crowd] I made
that [bleep] famous!

-[West] Goddamn.
-[crowd] I made
that [bleep] famous!

[West moans]

[Spanos] He ends up
making a video for Famous

where Taylor, along with
public figures

like Donald Trump
and Hillary Clinton,
are seen as sort of like,

these naked wax figures,
basically all in bed together.

♪ All my Southside niggas
that know me best ♪

♪ I feel like me and Taylor
might still have sex ♪

♪ Why?
I made that bitch famous ♪

♪ Goddamn
I made that bitch famous ♪

This sets off everything.

Taylor immediately makes
a public statement about it.

She's very upset
about the line
"and made that bitch famous".

She references it
in her album
of the year speech.

I want to say to all
the young women out there,

there are going to be
people along the way

who will try
to undercut your success.

Or take credit
for your accomplishments
or your fame.

[Wood] She's using this moment
to sort of say, "Hey.

This is somebody
trying to take away
what I've built,

what I've created,
and they're trying to

make you think
something else is true."

[paparazzi]
Stay with us, Taylor!

Kim Kardashian ends up
posting to Snapchat

a secret recording
of Kanye calling Taylor
from his studio.

There was a controversy
about whether
these clips were edited

to show Taylor in a bad light.

And when the full recording
comes out,

you can hear him
asking permission
to talk about her in the song.

It has a very
controversial line

at the beginning
of the song about you.

[Swift on phone]What does it say?

Okay. Can you brace yourself
for a second?

-[Swift] Yeah.
-Okay. All right. [chuckles]

It says-- Wait a second,
you sound sad.

[Swift] Well,
is it going to be mean?

No, I don't think it's mean.

"To all my Southside niggas
that know me best.

I feel like Taylor Swift
might owe me sex."

-[chuckles]
-[Swift laughing]

- That's not mean.
-Okay.

I mean, I need
to think about it

because I just need to,
like, you know,

you hear something
for the first time

-and you just need
to think about it.
- Yeah.

[Swift] But like, oh my God,
the buildup you gave it,

I thought
it was gonna be like,
"That stupid, dumb bitch."

Like, but it's not.

Now, the video doesn't
show him asking for permission
for the line, however,

that is,
"I made that bitch famous",

which had been the source
of a lot of Taylor's anger.

But regardless,
having any sort of
video footage

of Taylor proving
any part of Famous was enough

for people to flood
her Instagram
with snake emojis.

For Kim and Kanye to call it
a win for themselves.

For Taylor to be seen
in a lesser light

than she'd ever
been seen before.

This was
the biggest controversy

that she had experienced
in her career.

[actor reading]

[Tsjeng] At the time,
hashtag KimExposedTaylor
was trending on Twitter.

It had a really big impact
on her mental health.

She moved countries.

She said she was afraid
to pick up the phone

because she didn't know
who she could trust.

This was a huge deal for her

I think psychologically
and emotionally.

During this whole Famous saga,

when she was really
affected by it,

Scooter Braun was
managing Kanye.

It seems that
Taylor viewed Scooter

as having something to do
with Kanye's behavior.

Scooter was good
at helping artists
steer their careers.

Here's what you should do.
Here's what you shouldn't do.

[Tsjeng] There's a big burst
of publicity

from Kanye West's new album.

You know all publicity
is good publicity,
as the saying goes.

-[cameras flashing]
-[crowd cheering]

In the documentaryMiss Americana,
Taylor talks a little bit

about what this experience
with Kanye had done
for her reputation.

I'm just tired of the...

[shuddering breath] Just...

[sniffles]

[voice wavering] Just feels
like it's more than music now
at this point.

And just most days
I'm like, okay,

but then sometimes
I'm just like...

It just gets loud sometimes.

[Spanos] This very vivid way
that she describes
her own emotions,

allowing herself to give
an intimate experience
of her life,

to her fans
and to people who follow her.

She's very upset
about the public
really hating her

and really not being
on her side.

This was a period
that she has found to be

one of the darkest
in her life.

Her entire career
was at stake,

where she felt like
she might lose everything.

It wasn't unusual
for news outlets

to be running stories like,
"Taylor Swift is lying
to you."

She was accused of constantly
playing the victim to try
and get sympathy and pity.

[paparazzi] Bieber! Justin!

[Wood] At some point,
Justin Bieber gets involved,
you know.

And there's this post
where you sort of see him
on a call with Scooter,

and then he's asking Taylor.
"Hey, what's up?"

And then that just,
for Taylor, it kind of
reinforces this idea

that these guys are arrayed
against her.

Justin has since apologized
for his behavior,

but Taylor found it
really traumatizing
at the time.

[Richard Busch]Taylor's contract lasted
13 years,

so she was bound for 13 years

to deliver these six albums
for Scott, the owner
of Big Machine.

On behalf of
Big Machine Records

and our partners,
Universal Music
Group Worldwide,

we are so proud to present
to you this plaque.

You have to understand that
when she signed the contract,
she was a teenager.

So she wasn't the Taylor Swift
we know now.

-Y'all want to hear
some country music?
-[audience cheering]

And so the recognition
should be that

that I signed a deal
when I was a teenager,
when I was nobody.

But I have become on the level
of Michael Jackson,

you know, Elvis, Eminem.

[cameraman] All right, guys.
Look right here.

[Busch] Think of music
as having
different components

and different parties
oftentimes own
those different rights.

The songwriter owns
the publishing the moment
he or she writes the song.

Generally speaking,
the record label owns
the master sound recording.

When you own
your own master recordings,

it's protecting
what you've created,

the ability to say no.

She wanted a fair deal
from Big Machine.

She wanted to get
her master's back.

[Wood] Taylor comes
to Scott Borchetta and says,

"Hey, I'd like
to own my masters."

Borchetta says,
according to the story here,

"All right.
Well, how about this?

We'll do a deal where you make
another album for me,

and then I'll give you
the rights back
to your old albums.

And then we'll do it
like that.

You make several more album
and then you'll own
your old ones again."

[Busch] She's already been
basically a slave to them
for 13 years.

She's delivered six
of the biggest albums
of all time,

and they were using her desire
to get her recordings back

as some type of pressure point

...to get more recordings
from her.

So Taylor leaves Big Machine
and goes to UMG Republic,

Universal Music Republic,

where she strikes a deal
where she owns her masters.

Why they didn't just
sell her the masters, period,

without any strings attached?

That's a question for them.

[Anna] The music industry
is very much a boys club.

All the top executives,
the people who have

the most money
and the most power

are overwhelmingly
white and male.

I think it is a very
misogynistic industry.

I'd always known
about Scooter Braun,

but in 2021,
he sold his business to HYBE
for a billion dollars.

and I was like,
"Wow, that's a lot of money."

But it wasn't until
I started looking into him

that I realized
just how much power

and influence
and money he had.

I was really excited
to write the piece.

I don't think
there have been any other

deep-dive investigations
into Scooter and his empire.

We spoke to over
50 entertainment insiders

who'd worked with Scooter.

People were nervous
to speak on the record.

I think people are quite
intimidated by Scooter,

and a lot of people
would only speak

if they were able
to be anonymous.

Scooter has always taken pains
to present himself

as this really good guy,

this philanthropist,
this family man.

But what we heard
over and over again

was that Scooter is one
of the most ruthless people
in the business.

[Scooter] A year ago,
I'm not going to say names

but another manager
in the business

said I was
the worst music manager
in the music business

And it didn't bother me
because he's an asshole.

[paparazzi cheering]

[Anna] Around the time
that Scooter's client,

Ariana Grande
was dating Pete Davidson

and his other client,
Justin Bieber,

was engaged to Hailey Baldwin,

someone tweeted,
"The devil works hard,

but Scooter Braun
works harder."

It was in reference
to the fact

that Scooter seemed to have

such vast influence
over pop culture

that two of the biggest
news stories in the world

were about his clients.

He's known
for being really good
at playing the press

and shaping
the media narrative.

[Zing] When Taylor publishes
that first Tumblr post

in June 2019,
she seems genuinely in crisis.

[reading] "My musical legacy
is about to lie in the hands

of someone who tried
to dismantle it."

[Zing] You can tell reading it

that she is in kind
of freefall about this.

This has happened
to her masters.

Scooter Braun now owns them
because he's successfully

completed his purchase of
Big Machine, her former label.

[reading]
"Any time Scott Borchetta
has heard the words

'Scooter Braun'
escape my lips,

it was when I was either
crying or trying not to."

[Zing] And she goes on to say

that this is the worst case
scenario for her

because the person
that she describes as having

manipulatively
bullied her for years,

is now essentially
owning her work.

[reading]"Like when Kim Kardashian

orchestrated
an illegally-recorded snippet

of a phone call to be leaked

and then Scooter
got his two clients together

to bully me online about it."

[Mikael] She uses
this screenshot

that Justin Bieber had put up
on social media,

of him kind of laughing it up
with Kanye and Scooter

as kind of evidence
that here I've been bullied

by all these guys,
but specifically by Scooter.

[reporter] Being at
Billboard's power event,

tell me about your biggest
power move from 2019?

Our biggest power move

is my new partner,
Scooter Braun, with Ithaca.

So we're having a great time,
and It's pretty powerful.

[Brittany] Scott Borchetta
spoke out about the deal

at the time and the success
that it was.

There are
a lot of aspects of this,

where it does come down to
a woman who trusted a man

who would
sign her to his label

and promised her
this great career

and being
ultimately betrayed by him.

[paparazzi
shouting indistinctly]

He was someone,
who for a very long time,

seemed like
her biggest advocate.

You didn't see it coming?

No.

So how did you find out?

I found out
when it was online.

Like when it hit the news.

Nobody in your inner circle...

Nobody knew.

I knew he would sell my music.
I knew he would do that.

I couldn't believe
who he sold it to

because we've had
endless conversations

about Scooter Braun,
and he has 300,000,000 reasons

to conveniently
forget those conversations.

[Brittany] For Taylor,
I think it was a very
personal betrayal.

I feel like there are
probably aspects of it

we won't understand about

why Scott Borchetta
chose to work with Scooter

other than money, other than
a very large paycheck.

[Alex] Regardless of
how the industry is set up,

where you know,
you get funding

to be able to make
that career happen.

At the end of the day,
the thought that your soul

can then be sold
to someone else.

It's like The Little Mermaid.

It's like having
your voice taken from you.

[Heather]There were many times

where I did
feel sorry for her,

Because
not having those rights,

that's heartbreaking.

You come up with
something so awesome,

then you should be able
to keep it.

No matter how much
you want control of things,

there's always going
to be the big guy, the Man.

That song "The Man"?

That... is 100% spot on.

She was trying to say
that if she was a man,

that she would be able
to have more control.

♪ I'd be a fearless leader ♪

♪ I'd be an alpha type ♪

♪ When everyone believes ya ♪

♪ What's that like? ♪

[Mikael] The Man video
is full of veiled references
to this whole thing.

It's pretty hard to view it
as anything but a response

to how she feels
like she's been treated
as a businesswoman

and as a pop star
throughout her entire career.

Women are the engine
of the music industry.

That's who generates
the most excitement.

That's who sells
the most records.

That's who sells
the most concert tickets.

And yet, the music industry
is like many industries,

generally run by men.

[Brittany] In the months
following, of course,

Taylor is rolling out
her album Lover

and it's a big
topic of conversation

when she is talking
to the press.

And one thing that comes up
in a lot of those interviews

is what she plans to do.

Taylor playsGood Morning America.

You know, TV Show.

And then in the interview
with Robin Roberts,

tells the world
that she's going to start

re-recording her early albums,

[all cheering]

-[Robin] Are you going
to do that?
-Yeah, that's true.

And it's something that
I'm very excited about doing

because my contract says that,
starting November 2020,

so next year,
I can record albums

1 through 5
all over again so...

Oh, you'll do that.

I'm very excited about it.

[Dr. Amelia]When she first announces

that she is going
to re-record her albums,

there was a lot of questions

around whether this was
even achievable.

It's an astronomical project,

and there was
an atmosphere of disbelief
amongst the media

or that this would be
a real failed vanity project.

There is a standard agreement
in record labels historically,

that prevents
re-recording of recordings

you deliver
to the record label.

She had the right
after the re-recording
commitment expired

to re-record her music,

but she couldn't re-record
her masters before 2020.

when that re-recording
prohibition terminated.

And Scooter, I believe,
was still coming very wealthy

off of her work
in an unfair way.

Later in 2019, Taylor sort of
tells the world that...

...she has been barred
from performing
some of her old music

on the American Music Awards.

[reading] "Scott Borchetta
and Scooter Braun

have now said
that I'm not allowed

to perform my old songs
on television

because they claim that would
be re-recording my music

before I'm allowed to
next year."

"Scott Borchetta told my team

they'll allow me
to use my music

only if I do these things:

If I agree to not re-record

copycat versions
of my songs next year...

...and also told my team

that I need to stop talking
about him and Scooter Braun.

[Zing] She goes on to say that

my songs
are being held hostage

and I feel like I'm being
punished for speaking out

about this whole
Taylor-Scooter saga.

Saying that the message to her
is very clear:

"Be a good girl and shut up."

From Taylor's perspective,

Scooter wanted
to control a woman

through the use and ownership
of her masters.

And this is
an important moment

because this is
where she sort of,

as she says it,
turns to her fans "for help."

It was one of those moments

where I suddenly was like,
"I know what I can do.

I will fix this for her."

It was another challenge
where it just felt like,
"What is enough?"

When can she finally win
without facing

all of these hills
that she has to climb over?

I think fans
really united around.
Like, a #IStandWithTaylor

is a big way
of letting people know

like, you're not going
to push her around.

[Zing] The IStandWithTaylor
hashtag starts trending,

female musicians
start posting about it,

and it becomes this whole
kind of a big moment

where Taylor is
defining the story

of what
the masters dispute is about.

It's about, um,
a woman having the nerve

to speak out
and being shouted down.

It's about, uh,
men controlling
women's artistic output.

It sets this-this real kind
of moment in time
for her to be

the David in the David
versus Goliath story.

It's now about
a woman trying
to have creative control

versus an entire
music industry

that is not set up
to support women.

[male narrator]First up, it's Taylor Swift.

All eyes are gonna
be on the pop star

at tonight's
American Music Awards,

where she's slated to record
a medley of her greatest hits.

Taylor opens the AMA's
with the performance
of "The Man."

She turns up wearing this
oversized men's white shirt

with the names
of all her albums
plastered on it.

-[audience cheering]-And it is a big
pointed statement.

♪ I'm so sick of running
as fast as I can♪

[audience cheering]

♪ Wonderin' if I'd get there
Quicker if I was a man♪

You know, it's about a woman
who is being controlled

artistically by men
in the music industry.

And the albums
are kind of like
shout-out to the fact

that these are the albums
that are currently in dispute.

So It's kind of
a visual masterstroke
because it's turning this

contractual boardroom fight

into something
much much bigger,
which is about feminism.

It's about young girls.

She's starting up on stage,

and being empowered
and being able to make choices

about what they do
with their work, their lives,
their careers.

[audience cheering]

♪ And I'm so sick of them
Comin' at me again♪

♪ 'Cause if I was a man♪

♪ Then I'd be the man♪

♪ I'd be the man♪

♪ I'd be the man, yeah♪

♪ 'Cause I'd be the man♪

♪ I'd be the man♪

[Alex]I think we all can deduce

who she was singing to
in that moment.

It was a moment for her

to stand on her two feet

after she
had gotten permission
to perform this music.

And assert her power
very publicly.

[crowd speaking indistinctly]

[Zack]But she was not able, really,
to express that moral outrage

without kind of catching
the same old, boring,

like, misogynistic critique
of, well,

you are being too loud
or you're being too annoying

or you're feeling
too much in public,

and that's kind of the whole
Taylor Swift experience.

The most
rage-provoking element
of being a female is...

is the gaslighting
that happens when,

you know, for centuries
we've been just expected

to absorb
male behavior silently. Right?

-Silent absorption of whatever
any guy decides to do.
-Yeah.

She has spoken out
to Aaron Dessner,
her producer,

about the way
that women are not allowed

to have a kind of response

to an emotional situation
without being viewed
as the villain.

[Taylor]
There's been situations with,

recently with somebody
who's-who's very guilty

of this in my life,
and it's a person
who makes me feel,

or tries to make me feel
like I'm the offender

by having
any kind of defense...

-Yeah.
-...to his offenses.
It's like...

"Oh, I have absolutely
no right to respond
or I'm crazy.

I have no right to respond
or I'm angry.

-I have no right to respond
or I'm out of line."
-[Aaron] Yeah.

She's talking about
how she's been framed

to a certain kind
of characterization

that she feels, like,
isn't exactly accurate,

but this is what happens
to women who speak their mind.

[female reporter]Good morning to you guys.

It was an early
birthday present
for Taylor Swift,

who turns 30 today.

She accepted
Billboard's first-ever

"Woman of the Decade" award
at an event in Los Angeles.

And the pop star didn't
hold back in her speech.

[Alex]That speech that she gave
was such a strong moment.

She spoke up in front
of a room of his peers

to show that
she wasn't scared.

That is an act
of vulnerability.

She is being vulnerable
about that moment

and how hurtful it was.

She told you
exactly what she's feeling,

and she's letting you know
that, like...

Let's go.

And let me just say
that the definition

of the toxic
male privilege in our industry
is people saying...

"But he's always
been nice to me,"

when I'm raising
valid concerns about artists

and their rights
to own their music.

And, of course
he's nice to you.

If you're in this room,
you have something he needs.

The fact is that
private equity is what
enabled this man to think,

according to his own
social media post,

that he could "buy me."

But I'm obviously
not going willingly.

Over the course
of the months following,

there was more
kind of drama unfolding

behind the scenes
as she was trying to,

basically, get back control
of her music.

And she alleges
that she was blocked
from buying this music

that means so much to her.

[photographers clamoring]

[Zack] According to Taylor,
in the process of trying
to buy back

her master recordings
from Scooter Braun,

she wasn't even allowed to see
the financials of the deal

before she would sign an NDA,

basically saying that
she would never say

anything bad about
Scooter Braun ever again.

By now, you've probably
heard about this.

Taylor Swift
Scooter Braun drama.

Variety reported this week

that Scooter Braun's company,
Ithaca Holdings,

recently sold
the master rights

to the pop star's
first six albums

to an investment firm
for more than $300,000,000.

[Zing] It went everywhere.

Every single
news outlet covered it.

Scooter Braun sold
Big Machine on to another
private equity firm,

but with the caveat
that he would still
keep profiting

from Taylor's masters. Like,
that is a specific clause

that he demanded
to be included.

[Brittany] Taylor had posted
her own statement

in response to this,
talking about her disgust

that she had tried
to negotiate with Scooter
to buy back her masters.

And so, therefore,
it was another set of hands

that were now in control
of Taylor's music.

[reading]"As soon as we started
communication with Shamrock,

I learned
that under their terms,

Scooter Braun
will continue to profit

off my old musical catalog
for many years."

[Richard]Scooter Braun continued
to share in revenue

under his deal with Shamrock,

even going forward.

That was a big deal for her.

Taylor actually
addressed Shamrock

in one of her posts,
saying that, you know,

I would have been happy
to work with you

with respect
to my recordings. But...

what has happened
is so unfair.

I'm going to be re recording
my original recordings.

[reading]"I know this will diminish
the value of my old masters,

but I hope you understand
that this is the only way

to regain the sense of pride
I once had

when hearing songs
from my first six albums,

and also allowing my fans
to listen to those albums

without feelings of guilt
for benefiting Scooter."

There was kind of
a conversation started
amongst fans themselves

when this happened about
whether it was truly ethical

to be listening
to her old work at all
at this point.

Because the theory goes

that you are indirectly
lining Scooter's pockets

and adding
to the insult of Taylor,

by continuing
to stream this music.

[crowd clamoring]

[Alex]I think Taylor has shown
throughout her entire career

that in the face
of any adversity,

do not think
that you can outwit
or outsmart or outplay her.

She has shown so many times

that she will stand up
for what's right.

[Mikael] She's turned it
into a moral battle.

She made everybody
look at what was right.

It's about
Taylor Swift's right

to be in charge of her legacy.

[Zing] It's turning this
contractual boardroom fight

into something much bigger,

which is about feminism.
It's about women's rights.

It's about artistic women

being able to have control
over what they produced.

When push comes to shove,

Taylor is really not afraid
of taking a stand,

and she
is willing to pursue it
to the very last avenue.

[man] Legally,
Scooter had the absolute right

to buy this asset.

The truth didn't matter.

She had the ability
to rally her fans.

[woman] Tell Scott
and Scooter how you feel.

Well, if you know
Taylor Swift's fan base,

one could imagine
any number of reactions.

When it gets to a place
where there's death threats,

I just think
it's got out of hand.

♪ I tell my soul♪

♪ Only love forgives♪

♪ Only love forgives♪

♪ Tell my soul♪

♪ Only love forgives♪

♪ Only love forgives♪

♪ Tell my soul♪

♪ My soul ♪

♪ Only love,
Only love forgives♪