All language subtitles for T.S.v.S.B.B.B.S01E02.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

-[all] Taylor! Taylor! Taylor!
-Back up, back up.

[Zing] I really can't think of
that many other pop stars

who have turned what is
a boardroom deal

into the stuff of
a fandom war.

She literally called on
her fans to apply pressure

on Scooter and people
who know him.

[text notification chimes]

[Scooter] I just think we live
in a time of toxic division

and people thinking
that social media is

the appropriate place
to air out on each other
and not have conversations.

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

and there's people being
threatened in the manner
they're at,

I just think it's got out
of hand.

Stand right here.

[Mikael] Scott Borchetta,
who signed Taylor Swift's

Big Machine,
he sold the label,

and with it her Masters of
her early work,

to Scooter Braun,
who Taylor had long viewed

as a nemesis.

[Rachel] They were
all harassed.

If you were in any way
associated professionally

with these two men,
you were made a target online

by Taylor Swift's fan base.

Legally, Scooter had
the absolute right
to buy this asset.

The truth didn't matter.

She had the ability
to rally her fans.

It wasn't David
versus Goliath.

It was Goliath versus Goliath.

[all cheering]

Taylor Swift is in charge
of an army,
and she's the general.

[Zing] It becomes very visible
in public in a way

that not a lot of
boardroom politics are.

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

He paid for his rights
fair and square.

He paid a lot of money
for his rights.

[Lucas] To go from being this
sort of celebrated manager

to being seen as the villain
on the internet,

I think was pretty tough
for him.

She was creating
this victim narrative

over something that was
more complicated

and was a business deal
and wasn't some

bullying attack against her.

Taylor is very down to earth.
She's very genuine, very real.

[woman]To have this collection
of moments and stories

and these powerful things

taken away from her
and sold without her knowledge

was truly like a gut punch.

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]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.

♪ Tell my soul
Only love forgives ♪

♪ Only love forgives ♪

♪ Tell my soul
Only love forgives ♪

♪ Only love forgives ♪

♪ I've been playing
with fire ♪

♪ It's got me on
the devil's list ♪

♪ I tell my soul♪

♪ Only love,
only love forgives ♪

[all cheering]

[Zing]Taylor is more than just
a musician.

She is, in her own right,
a kind of pop culture giant.

[all] We love you, Taylor!

Taylor has a really close
relationship with her fans,
with her Swifties.

She has power in
a very different way
to Scooter,

and that's kind of
cultural power,

which means that
she has people
who are happy to ride

to her defense on socials
whenever she wants.

[all cheering]

[Rachel] Fan clubs have
always existed,

but now we call them
fan armies.

I think just the scale of
followers that Taylor has

creates an effect of that
feeling of mob mentality.

There's really very little
else like it just because of

the way that she connects
with her fans.

I don't want to miss
any show of Taylor

because I was a Swiftie
since I was 15

and now I'm 28 years old

[sniffles] and it's, you know,
it's 13 years.

[Zing] I think what this all
boils down to

is whose side are you on?

If you take Scooter's side,
it's about someone weaponizing

their fan base, their ability
to make themselves out to be

a victim in order
to cast doubt

and torpedo a deal that,
by all accounts,

is financially
and business-wise
completely sound.

[upbeat music playing]

[Lucas]Scooter Braun was one of,
if not the only,

music manager of his era
who people knew,
who was kind of famous.

Partly because he'd been
so closely tied to

the rise of Justin Bieber,
who was one of the most
famous celebrities

in the world,
and Scooter was his manager.

[Alex] The typical picture
of a music manager

is either a suit
and a dealmaker,

or perhaps a shady Svengali
like Lou Pearlman,

or an unseen force.

Scooter's very different.

Scooter's management style
was to be the big brother

to his main artists,
and I think that
comes through.

There's a lot of affection,
there's a lot of laughter,

and there's just an easy way
he has around his big stars.

I couldn't be more
happy that I met him

-and he helped me get
to where I am.
-[woman] That's so nice.

[Alex] I first got fascinated
with Scooter Braun in 2009

when we covered Justin Bieber
for the first time.

And I wondered,
who was it who found him

on YouTube and put him out
into the culture?

Scooter was born in 1981.

He grew up in Greenwich,
Connecticut,

perhaps the greatest bastion
of white Anglo-Saxon
Protestant America.

His family, however,
were Jewish Holocaust
survivors.

And it's clear to anyone
who's spent time with him

or even just seen
his social media that

his family and their history
were very important to him.

He was the ultimate insider
and outsider.

[Scooter] The lessons
I have learned from
this research are threefold.

First, a multicultural society
is essential for human rights

to survive.

[Alex] It's interesting that
at the same age

that Justin Bieber
was making YouTube videos,

Scooter was making a film
about his family's
Holocaust experiences.

My grandparents are
Holocaust survivors.

My grandmother was
in Auschwitz,

my grandfather was in Dachau.

And I grew up,
as far as I can remember,

with the stories of
the Holocaust,

of why certain family members
aren't here,

what happened to us.

At one point,
someone scratched a swastika

into his car, and he was known
to get into scraps over

anti-Semitic comments,
though mostly when

other people were being
picked on.

Realizing that
you're different,

realizing that you see
the world different,

when you're growing up with
that little bit of bravery

and a little bit of fear,
you recognize that
in other people.

And I wanted to help people.
I wanted to be a part of it.

I think what I ended up
doing as a job was helping

people go after their dreams.

[upbeat music playing]

[Alex] Scooter went to college
at Emory in Atlanta.

He wasn't a big partier,
but he threw these big bashes

that drew up
to hundreds of people.

Jermaine Dupri and his
then-girlfriend Janet Jackson

came to one, and that was
Scooter's big break.

Jermaine ended up
hiring Scooter,

seemingly based on
his ability to throw a party,

and he made him head of
marketing at Dupri's label
So So Def.

He was soon throwing bashes
for everyone

from Shaquille O'Neal
to Britney Spears.

That's where Scooter first
cut his teeth professionally
in the music business.

He had already decided
he wanted to be

a music manager by that point.

And he was on the lookout for
talent when he came across

a YouTube video of
a skinny kid named
Justin Bieber.

[Justin]When I put out my videos
on YouTube,

it was kind of just for
my friends and family.

And to see it go so big
and to have someone

like Scooter that was able
to help me,

you know, show it to the world
and do what I love,

I think it's been incredible.

And when I saw him
the first time,

I always knew we would
get here.

And I think now that he's 18
and becoming a man, you know,

how good of a man,
how he carries himself
will define how far he goes

'cause his talent,
you know, is endless.

[Alex] Bieber's success
was a catalyst for Scooter

and his entire business.

In 2017, WSJ,
The Wall Street Journalmagazine,

asked me to profile him
at length.

We had a lot of
long conversations.

He was already thinking
about his next act.

Continuing to diversify within
the music business

and cement his mogul status,
he had an eye on
bigger things.

[Lucas]There's a story initially in
the Wall Street Journal about

and Scott Borchetta selling
Big Machine to Scooter Braun.

And immediately there's
a strong reaction
to it online.

It was clear that Taylor Swift
knew what was coming because

she was ready with
a Tumblr post in which

she attacked both
Scott Borchetta
and Scooter Braun,

Borchetta for basically
selling her work out
from underneath her.

And Scooter for buying it
and for just being
a bad person,

which takes over the news
pretty quickly.

Like, the sale becomes
less important than the fact

that Taylor is upset
about the sale.

Taylor Swift, the pop star
speaking out after

a top manager brought
the rights to her music,

and she is not happy about it.

Now that company,
along with her catalog,

has sold for $300 million to
someone who Swift claims

once tried to dismantle her
musical legacy.

Braun recently purchased
Big Machine Label Group,

which gives him
ownership of all of
Swift's original recordings

of her past six albums.

[Alex] It's too good
a business opportunity.

If you said the most
successful pop artists

in the world's Masters
are up for sale,
do you want to buy them?

Yeah.

The business version of him
would see the value in it.

I don't think there's
any doubt of that.

As much as Scooter wants
to be liked,

he makes no apologies
for being a businessman.

He paid for his rights
fair and square.

He paid a lot of money
for his rights.

So from his point of view,
I'm sure he's confused why
he got into hot water.

[Lucas] The level of antipathy
that she seemed to feel

towards Scooter Braun
was surprising.

And it was something
that I think a lot of us
tried to figure out.

What was the motivation?

I don't think she's been
fully honest about why

she feels so strongly
about Scooter Braun.

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

-[woman vocalizing]
-[acoustic music playing]

[Zing] When Taylor was a kid,
she moves to Nashville

and she plunges into
the music world.

[Taylor] Y'all,
like he said, I'm 16.

Don't know if
I'm allowed to be in here
or not, but whatever.

Um...

She was in an industry
showcase when she caught

the eye of a record executive
called Scott Borchetta,

who was setting up
a label called Big Machine.

[Lucas] Scott Borchetta was
a very talented
record executive.

He had a big part
in turning Taylor Swift

into the star that she was.

I was just smitten
on the spot.

-It was like a lightning bolt.
- [Taylor] The best part about
getting a record deal

was that it wasn't just
a record deal.

It was the right deal for me.

I'm just so grateful that
I got the right one

and that I'm with people
that I believe in
and that they believe in me.

[Dr. Jennifer]In a documentary called
A Place in This World,

you see a younger Taylor Swift
talking just jubilantly

about how happy she is
to be with Scott,

be at that record label,
how that's the only place
for her.

You can see her, she's in
the recording booth

with just absolute joy
on her face.

It seemed like
a really symbiotic
relationship at that time.

She was this rising star,
they were this new entity,

and it just was right people,
right place for both of them.

So things have not always had
all the animosity

that we see today.

[Zing] Taylor signs with
Scott Borchetta's
Big Machine Records,

and as part of a cash advance,
she agrees to give Big Machine

the Masters to her
first six albums.

[man] Excellent. Looks great.

[Neama] Copyright law contains
three components.

The lyrics, the music,
and the recording.

If the artist wrote the song,
they own the rights

to both the lyrics
and the music.

But the recording company owns
the rights to the recording.

That's called a Master.

[Marina] Big Machine
basically took a chance on
an unknown artist.

And the studio determined
that what they want in return

is the physical manifestation
of the performance,

which is the Master recording.

Thank you so much
New York City.

[Neama] As the artist,
Taylor owns the rights

to the lyrics and the music,
and the record company owns

the rights to
the original recording.

This is standard in most
recording agreements.

[indistinct chatter]

[Marina] Taylor did get
to record six albums.

They paid for the recording,
they paid for the marketing.

On behalf of Big Machine
Records and our partners

Universal Music Group
Worldwide,

we are so proud to present
to you this plaque that

indicates you have sold
more than 20 million records
worldwide.

-[gasps]
-[all clapping and cheering]

Oh, my God.

Famously, she used her
first paycheck to buy

a Lexus convertible
as a kind of snub
to the popular girls.

She's talked about this
as being a real kind of
F.U. moment

in her career where
she kind of says, you know,

you girls were busy not
inviting me to things,

going to parties while
I've just used my first
paycheck

to buy the car that
Regina George drives
in Mean Girls.

So it kind of really
shows you what she was about

from a very young age.
She's really hardworking,

she's super talented,
but she likes to kind of
keep score.

And you know, she's not
above holding a grudge

and she likes to get one
over other people.

She got everything
out of that contract

that she could possibly want.

Big Machine made her
the star that she is today.

Is it a fair bargain?

It has worked so far.

She might have
moral objections,
but those don't,

unfortunately, don't always
count in the court of law.

[Zing] Taylor's Tumblr post
kind of kicks off
this online firestorm.

So it becomes very visible
in public in a way that

not a lot of boardroom
politics are.

It becomes,
because of Taylor's celebrity

and her openness
and posting about it
on Tumblr,

much bigger than that.

[man] Taylor talks about
not having consented

and her Masters being stolen.

I've seen no evidence
that anything was stolen
from Taylor Swift.

And I don't know where
consent comes into it.

Her consent was not required
for the label to sell itself

to someone else.

[Neama]Taylor says that she became
aware of the deal

at the same time
as the rest of the world.

And that's one of
the key things that upset her.

Taylor also claims that
she wasn't given
the opportunity

to buy those Masters
outright herself.

[Lucas] It's very hard for me
to believe that Taylor Swift

did not know that that deal
was coming in some way.

I also believe that
she probably didn't get

the chance to buy her music
in the way that she wanted

and feels that she was wronged
by Scott Borchetta,

which then forces
Scott Borchetta to respond

and try to say,
this is what really happened.

[Marina]Scott Borchetta denies
Taylor's version of events

saying, you know,
it's time for some truth.

Scott Borchetta says
that he personally
texted Taylor

to tell her about the deal
and that she had

every opportunity to own
not only her Masters,

but everything associated
with her career.

And he attaches the documents
and the evidence to prove it.

This document appears to show
that Taylor and Big Machine

were negotiating terms
upon which
she could acquire ownership

of her Master recordings,

notwithstanding the public
comments of Taylor that

she was never offered
such a right.

[Neama reading]

...went over this document
in great detail

and reported the terms to her
in great detail.

[Howard]Taylor and I then walked
through the deal together.

As you will read, 100% of all
Taylor Swift assets

were to be transferred to
her immediately

upon signing
the new agreement.

But it's clear that
Big Machine is putting

these documents out
to show

that they were willing to give
Taylor back ownership
of the Masters,

the thing that she claims
that she wanted,

but that it appears that
they didn't come to terms

on what the terms of
that return of the Masters
to her would be.

I completely understand
where she was coming from.

You know, I think the Beatles
probably felt the same way

when Michael Jackson bought
their publishing. Um...

The person who owned
Taylor's Masters

throughout her career
was not myself.

And when I was buying
a record label,

I actually said to
that group at any point,

if she comes back
and wants to be part of
this conversation,

please let me know because
I wouldn't do this deal.

Um, I was shown a email
that's been out public now

where she stated that
she had decided to move on

from that negotiation
and wasn't interested
in doing that deal anymore.

So I thought at the time,
"Okay, I'm in the clear,

let's do this deal."

[Marina] Taylor Swift did try
to buy her Masters

and for whatever reason,
it didn't happen.

So it went on
an open market

and the studio found Scooter
to be the worthy buyer

and they have all
the rights to do that.

It's their money that
they're trying to recoup.

[Zing] What was less reported
at the time that
she signed with

Big Machine is that her dad
also purchased a stake

in Big Machine.

So he purchased a reported
3% stake for the cost

of something around $120,000,
which meant that Taylor's dad

was also involved in
the running of Big Machine
as a minority shareholder.

[Neama]What's interesting is that
it's revealed that Scott Swift

made $15.1 million
when Big Machine

was sold to Scooter Braun.

This adds a new dimension,
and people ask,

how could it be possible
that Taylor didn't know

what was happening when
her father was a shareholder
of the Big Machine?

[Nola] Big Machine claimed
that Taylor would have had

an idea about the deal
because her dad, Scott,

told his daughter about it
or gave her some warning.

Taylor's camp
have always argued
that this isn't the case,

that Scott chose not to be
on certain phone calls,

and so he'd never have to lie
to his daughter on the call.

[cars honking]

[Zing] It's important to note
that a lot of Taylor's
early success,

you know, her ability
to pursue music

from a young age is because
she also had
a really supportive family

who were also quite moneyed,
quite upper middle class.

Her dad is
a Merrill Lynch banker

and asks to be transferred
from Pennsylvania

to the Nashville office
of Merrill Lynch

just so that when she's a kid,
she can start working

the music industry.

I can't think of very
many singers who,

when they signed
their first record deal,

their dad was in the position
to buy a minority stake

in that record label.

So I think she comes from
a kind of background

where she was given a leg up
in many ways.

She's a very talented
songwriter,

but there are tons and tons
of talented songwriters
all over the world.

Not all of them will have
a dad who works in banking

and has the kind of
financial clout

to be able to move all the way
across the country
to Nashville

just to make sure that
they can support
their kid's career.

[Dr. Jennifer]I think we're living in
a really scary time

for creativity and music
in particular.

And Taylor Swift is
an example of
every single thing

lining up perfectly for you.

There are less and less
and less opportunities

for kind of, if you would,
the old fashioned system,

the system that saw people
like Elton John, Blondie,

Bruce Springsteen,

people that were really
reflecting

the working class issues
and problems.

[upbeat music playing]

[Nola] Eric Logan
is a board member
on Big Machine Records.

And what's important to note
about him is the fact that

he's been on the board for
Big Machine since

the beginning.

So he's someone that
has literally watched
Taylor's career grow

and will know her well
because of that.

Eric actually released
a statement in which

he called Taylor out
and was fighting back

against her claims
and kind of hinted that

she was playing a victim game

and creating this
victim narrative over

something that was more
complicated

and was a business deal
and wasn't,

you know, some bullying
attack against her.

This is Eric's statement.

"Somewhere you have
told yourself that
you have the right

to reframe any story
you want to fix with

any narrative you wish.

I'm not going to sit on
the sidelines and allow you

to rewrite history and bend
the truth to justify your lack

of understanding
of a business deal.

You knew about this deal.

You knew what you
were walking away from.

So please stop lying."

[all cheering]

After Taylor released
that Tumblr blog,

it became more than just
Taylor versus Scooter.

It really kind of set a light
under the whole industry.

You had Kelly Clarkson
tweeting Taylor like,

hey, maybe rerecord
your music.

You had Halsey saying that
Taylor is the artist that

made me want to be
a songwriter.

How can she not own her work?

And on the flip side,
there were people speaking out
for Scooter as well.

Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato
kind of spoke out

in his support.

And it was a really
interesting time

because it really took on
a world of its own.

[Zing] You know, it became
something that is much more

than just a contractual
dispute.

This became very much
a public dispute.

[Dr. Jennifer]One thing that's really
interesting about

the Taylor Swift phenomena
is everything seems

so perfectly curated
to help control perfectly

what the story and the brand
is of Taylor Swift.

And one fantastic example
of that is in 2019,

where she appears at
the Billboard Women
in Music Awards.

She's actually there
to pick up an award

as Women of the Decade.

This just happened
to me without my approval,

consultation, or consent.

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

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

It was an opportunity where
she could have really

used it to truthfully,
authentically

be celebrating women
and being humble that she,

at such a young age,
is being even given this award

and honor, but instead
she used it again

to throw a bomb at her enemy.

And the thing that is,
I think,

really a wee bit troubling
about it.

When you actually look at
the contents of what she says,

peppered throughout are words

that really conflate
sexual violence

with issues that she's having
with business.

She uses the word consent,

and this is at the height of

the Me Too era.

[all cheering]

[Lucas] Taylor Swift,
even in her music,

has always been very adept
at playing the victim.

I think there are moments
in which she truly has been
a victim,

but a lot of her music is
about the guys that

she's been with and how
they've wronged her,

how they've been crappy.

[Rachel] I think there are a
number of points along
Taylor's timeline

that point to certain themes
coming up again and again

in order to create a narrative
that I am the wronged party

and someone is trying
to hurt me.

[Nola] Throughout her career,
Taylor Swift has had a history

of kind of feuding with others
and having grievances
with other people,

whether it was because
of relationships or like

friendships have gone wrong
or business dealings

that she doesn't like
or hasn't been happy with.

[upbeat music playing]

Really interesting time
was Taylor Swift's feud

with Katy Perry because
that was almost like
the first time

she had an issue with
a woman in the industry.

[Dr. Jennifer]The Taylor Swift song,
"Bad Blood," it's been rumored

that it's about Katy Perry.

And the origin of this
was a beef they had about

some backup dancers.

[Nola] Suddenly, she had
an issue with Katy Perry

and she built up
this girl squad

of famous celebs,
creates the Bad Blood video

with all her
superstar besties.

♪ Now we got problems
And I don't think
we can solve them ♪

♪ You made a really deep cut
And baby♪

♪ Now we got bad blood
Hey ♪

[Dr. Jennifer]That's the whole thing.

This idea of victimhood
and changing the narrative,

it really is alarming.

You watch
the Bad Blood video,

and at first,
the first run-through,
you're like, 'Yeah,

you go get that."
This is a bunch of
badass women, powerful.

It almost has a Kill Bill,kind of Uma Thurman vibe
to it.

But then I'm sitting there
thinking about this,

and I'm like,
she's literally being violent

in this video with guns.

It has almost like
a Mean Girls vibe to it, like,

I'm getting my posse
to come kick your butt.

It just almost to me seemed
like it was encouraging

a violence towards people
that you do not get on with,

whether it's a violence
in words, like bullying,

or it's an actual physical
violence with guns and blood.

And it made me quite sad,
actually, to watch the video.

The music industry as
a machine is bad enough

to women without women
pitting against each other.

At the time, it did
kind of make me pause

just a bit, like,
"This is mean."

This isn't nice.
This is kind of isolating
someone.

Over an issue regarding
backing dancers,

it felt like a very strong way
to react.

It had an impact
on Katie's career.

[man] Taylor...

[Zing] I would say that when
Taylor starts being able
to use narrative

to her advantage,
really comes into play with

Kanye and the VMAs.

Yo, Taylor.

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

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

-[crowd cheering]
-[mouths] Oh, my God.

[Dr. Jennifer] I think you had
to have a heart of stone

not to feel terrible for her
for that happening.

And it was wrong
that he did that.

However, I also think
that yes, she was already
a big star,

but she was a big star
with a niche population

of the music buying public.

And it shows how powerful
the machine behind Taylor

was even then,
because they saw that

as an opportunity to put out
this narrative

and start positioning her
as this vulnerable yet
strong person.

[Zing] Here's this poor
young girl who's

had her chance
to shine taken away
by someone else.

And I think that really
set into motion
a lot of narratives

that still surround
Taylor today.

This idea of being the victim
of larger forces beyond
her control,

of needing to get revenge
somehow,

it really just supercharged
her career

and it really exploded her
in the public eye.

[indistinct chatter]

So if you fast forward
to 2016,

Kanye West releases a song
on his new album

called "Famous," which goes,
"I think me and Taylor
still might have sex.

Why I made that bitch famous."

[Lucas] Taylor Swift is
very upset about this,

and she claims that Kanye did
not ask for her approval.

Be careful with the car!
Be careful with the car!

[Lucas] Kim Kardashian leaks
a phone recording

between Kanye and Taylor Swift
in which it does appear that

Kanye tells Taylor and Taylor
seems to be okay with it.

"To all my South Side snickers
that know me best,

I feel like Taylor Swift
might owe me sex."

[Taylor laughs on phone]

- [Taylor] That's not mean.
-Okay.

Yeah. Well, this is the thing
where I'm calling you

because you've got an army.

You own a country of
motherfucking
two billion people.

It is very dark,
but you can obviously see
it's Kanye West.

You can hear
it's Taylor Swift.

She sounds happy that
he's even asking her.

It's so funny,
because you think of Kanye

as being all powerful,
lawyered up to the eyeballs,

huge management machine
behind him.

He looks like
a teenage boy calling
a girl for the first time.

"Ooh, please will you go out
with me?"

Like he looks so scared
and so timid,

not like one of the most
influential rappers we've had.

He just wants her so badly
to approve and be okay with

what it is he wants to create.

The thing about Taylor
in the Kanye context

is it makes her
an unreliable witness.

She would have just
come out straight and go,
"Ooh, you know what?

We did talk about it.
I was really flattered that

he was going to do
a song about me.
It sounded great.

But I didn't know about
the use of the B word,

that that was going to be
in there." Done.

[Nola]Taylor's feud with Kanye
has played a large part

in why she's so upset
about Scooter.

I have often wondered
if he hadn't been a manager
for Kanye,

would she have been
as upset?

Would she have claimed
the bullying

and made the accusation about
him just trying

to dismantle her career?

[camera shutters clicking]

[Lucas]That Sunday night after Taylor
issued her Tumblr post,

Scooter's wife at the time,
Yael,

issued a long post on
Instagram defending
her husband,

pointing out that
she was upset at Scooter

because of his history
with Kanye West.

She also suggested
that Taylor's criticism

of her husband was unfair
and all he was doing

was trying to do
a good business deal

and he'd be happy
to have involved her.

[Alex]Whether you find Scooter
likable or not,

there's no denying that
he wants to do some good
in the world.

And in the midst
of my reporting with Scooter,

something
horrific happens.

[sirens wailing]

[crowd cheering]

The One Love concert
showed the very best

of what Scooter Braun can be.

He was trying to do right by
his artist,

he was trying to do good
for the world,

and use music
to reach out to people.

As unfortunately
we saw yesterday,
evil will test us.

It will show its face again.

But because of you,
we can now represent through

this as a worldwide community
that we will be ready,

we will be fearless,
we will be great,

and we will honor
our children.

[all cheering]

[Alex] He was very emotional
about the bombing.

As much as his voice broke
on stage,

it also broke when
he was talking about it.

It was a very raw,
real moment.

After some years,
it's easy to forget
how important that was,

especially to the people
who were there,

and how much
he put into moving heaven
and earth

to get this to happen.

I forgot how much he talked
about kids

and how I think it made him
think about his own children.

He's a guy who really,
really cares about his family.

[text notification chimes]

[upbeat music playing]

[crowd cheering]

[Neama]Taylor's announcement of
the re-recording

takes this dispute to
a whole new level

and begs the question,
is she going out of her way

to devalue the deal that
was struck between Big Machine

and Scooter Braun?

There is such a concept
in American law

as good faith dealing
that says that if you struck

a bargain, you know,
you have to act accordingly

and not undermine the bargain
and do not devalue it.

So from his point of view,
I have a contract that says

"I own these rights now."

And you go around it
and rerecord it,

and all he did was purchase
the rights legally.

Why would you ever take
a chance on an unknown artist

and invest all this money
if then they could turn around

and undermine their contract
that way?

So I actually believe that
what she has done

is kind of a disservice to
unknown artists out there

because it would be
this much harder now

to persuade the studios
to take the chance

and make all this investment.

[Neama]Taylor claims that Big Machine
and Scooter Braun

are preventing her
from using her music,

both in a Netflix documentary
and at the AMAs,

where Taylor is set to perform
and win the Artist of
the Decade Award.

Taylor's Big Machine contract
contained a re-record clause,

which was typical
in the industry.

That prohibited Taylor
from re-recording

any of her Masters during
the term of her agreement,

plus an additional two years.

Taylor says that Scooter Braun
is claiming that

the performance would be
a re-recording of her music

before the expiration of
her re-recording restriction.

[Zing] Big Machine then post
a follow-up to say,

we don't have the right
to tell you not to perform
those songs.

Again, people are starting
to think,

you know, what is Taylor
fudging here?

You know, what is
the truth of the matter?

-[all clamoring]
-Back up.

[man] Love you, Taylor.

[Lucas]Taylor Swift's comments
ahead of the AMAs

telling her fans to voice
their frustrations

to Scooter Braun
and Scott Borchetta

kicked up a whole other cycle
of press around this.

[Rachel] Tell Scott
and Scooter how you feel.

If you know Taylor Swift's
fan base

and the fervency behind
her fandom,

one could imagine
any number of reactions.

[Zing]Fandom sometimes can take
a very dark turn.

It can turn into
abusive messages,

abusive posts, trolling.

[Lucas]Swifties and the Taylor Swift
fans are probably one of

the most powerful
constituencies on Earth.

[indistinct chatter]

You have these very rabid fans
who are cult-like

and who think that
she can do no wrong.

[all chattering indistinctly]

[Rachel]Scooter Braun, his family,

his coworkers,
Scott Borchetta,

the employees at Big Machine,

they were all harassed.

If you were in any way
associated professionally

with these two men,
then you were made

a target online by
Taylor Swift's fan base

as a direct result of her
asking her fans

to tell Scooter and Scott
how you feel about this.

[Lucas]The vitriol directed in
Scooter's direction

almost immediately, as well as
his wife, was pretty gnarly.

[Dr. Jennifer]When the hashtag,
I stand with Taylor,

was trending, you know,
there was Swiftie saying,

let's go to his house and,
like, cut his neck in half.

She had enormous
cultural clout.

She had enormous social power.

[Rachel] Taylor Swift has
282 million Instagram
followers,

and that is a lot of people.

That includes some people
who are anonymous,

they have fan accounts,
and that level of anonymity

can embolden people
to make threats.

Pile-on effect can be
very dangerous,

whether physically
or just mentally,

to the person who
they're going against.

I myself have experienced
that kind of pile on

from Swiftie fandom.

And I love Taylor Swift
is the greatest irony,

but sent out a tweet
commenting on something that

Taylor said in a Grammy
acceptance speech

a few years ago,
and was being told

I should slit my wrists.

Every corner of the internet
that I could be found,

I was getting harassed.

And this is just for a tweet.

I can love Taylor Swift
and love her music,

but at the same time,
no one is immune to criticism.

This was the biggest story
in the music business
for months,

and everyone was wondering
when Scooter was going

to say something.

He posted online saying that
this had led to death threats

and that he was concerned
for the security of his family

and that he really wanted her
to stop.

The only thing I disagree with
is weaponizing a fan base.

The artists I work with have
very large fan bases.

You don't do that.
It's very dangerous.

There's people within
that fan base who have
mental health issues.

There's families involved,
and I think that's very,
very dangerous.

[Nola]Scooter actually did say,
some of your fans

are threatening the lives of
my children.

Can you call them off?
And she never did.

[Lucas] He became
an internet villain, right?

To go from being this sort of
celebrated manager

who seems to be the friend
to the artist

and a business genius
to being seen as
the villain

on the internet, I think
was pretty tough for him.

[announcer on PA]Morning call, passengers,
please--

[soft music playing]

[Zing]Scooter sells Big Machine
and Taylor's Masters

to Shamrock, which is
a private equity group
owned by Disney.

And what that means is that
Disney now own the Masters,

but Scooter introduces
a clause into the sale,

which means that
he still profits off

whatever money
the Masters makes.

[Lucas] Shamrock Capital paid
hundreds of millions
of dollars

just for
the Taylor Swift Masters.

And this kicked off
a whole other cycle

of acrimony and criticism
because Taylor felt that,

again, someone else
was getting rich off
of her work.

And there was this whole back
and forth about whether

Taylor had been given
the opportunity to buy them
or not.

[Neama] Taylor claims that
she was offered
the opportunity

to buy back her catalog,
but she had to sign an NDA

that was more like a gag order
that prevented her from

ever saying anything bad
about Scooter Braun.

[Lucas]She posted on Twitter saying
that had had conversations

about buying the Masters,
but that Scooter would

only sell them to her
if she signed

a non-disclosure agreement
guaranteeing that

she would not criticize him
publicly,

which she did not want to do.

[all] Taylor.

[photographer] Yes, Taylor!
Right here, Taylor! Beautiful!

Straight ahead, Taylor!

These are some emails that
were shared by Scooter's team.

Scooter Braun's team counters
that in November 2019,

Taylor's management company
signed an NDA,

but it seems to be
a typical NDA that has

no restrictions on Taylor
commenting on Scooter Braun.

-Hey, congrats on all
the success.
-Thank you.

Everything you've done...

I was always open to selling
back people their catalogs

along the way at
a fair market value.

And I did present that.
I don't speak about
this publicly

because I think people
have said certain things.

Those narratives aren't
necessarily true.

All artists have royalties
coming to them
from their Masters.

And if they want
an opportunity to buy them,

they should have
that opportunity.

And I'm completely open
to that conversation.

You need to be able
to sit in front of someone
and have dialogue.

And what you can't do

is say that you want something
and then never ever sit down

at the table to have
an actual dialogue.

-[photographer]
Looking beautiful, girl.
-[man] Taylor, Taylor.

[Howard] I don't see it as
a legal dispute at all.

I think it's the framing
of the narrative.

With Taylor,
it's this really interesting
phenomenon

where she's the victim,
but has also always been

the winner as well
at the same time.

Like, ultimately,
she always prospers.

And it's just something
I don't think

we've really seen with
anyone else,

where something awful happens
to her or she feels wronged

or slighted,

but she always
kind of gets her revenge.

And she's even joked
about it herself.

She's said it in her songs,
Karma,

"Look What You Made Me Do."

She literally will sit
and plot her revenge.

And when it's executed,
it's flawless.

[all cheering]

[Marina]I don't think there
is any time in music history

where someone went back
and rerecorded hit albums

only for them to
become hit again.

And this is actually an homage
of, you know,

how much Taylor Swift's fans
really rally for her.

[all cheering]

[Mikael] The re-recordings
have in many cases done better

in a commercial sense
than the original records.

No one's ever heard of that.
That's an entirely
new achievement.

So that's what we're doing.

So when something says
in parentheses,

"Taylor's Version" next to it,
that means I own it,

-which is exciting.
-[all cheering]

[Howard]I'm not sure anybody
anticipated, A,

that she would do this
to the extent she did,

B, that she would do it
so well, and C,

that it would be so popular.

That came to light to me
when I was driving around

three 16-year-old girls
with my daughter,

and they were talking
because they were listening to

a Taylor Version of a song.

And one of the girls said,
we won't listen to

the other music because
some bad man stole that
from her.

I didn't say a word,
but I thought, good marketing.

She's done a great job here.

Her fans believe that
they're being disloyal

if they listen to
the original music.

I do think that
some combination of the fight

with Scooter and the way
she handled that

and the way she then got
perceived as a victim

and the re-recording of
the albums

just completely changed
the trajectory of her career.

[upbeat music playing]

[woman]I love Taylor ever since I was
a little girl,

and I love her music,
and I think her Eras tour

is like the best
concert ever.

I've been waiting to see her
since I was 10.

We're here for Taylor Swift!

[Mikael] The scale of
Taylor's success,

it just keeps redefining
itself.

The Eras tour is now,
by most estimates,

the biggest pop tour
that's ever been mounted.

[Brittany]We've seen Taylor's influence
grow immensely.

Something has sort of shifted
where Taylor has become

the foremost public figure
in the world.

[all] We love you, Taylor!

[Mikael] We can debate sort of
who is the winner of

the business war here.

There are arguments to be made
on both sides.

But if you're talking about
who won the emotional battle,

who won the sort of
moral feud,

it seems clear to me
that in the court of
public opinion,

Taylor Swift was the winner.

When I'm analyzing the case,
she's not going to win
in the courtroom.

She doesn't have
a good court case,

but she like completely
destroyed him in the PR world.

Does it fundamentally
make him a pauper?
No, it doesn't.

He's still very, very rich.

But I think what the impact
of this whole feud

has been on his reputation
in the music industry

is that he's now kind of
been tarnished reputationally

from this scrap with Taylor.

It did hurt because...

The day before it happened,
I had never had

any negative news about me
in our entire industry.

I never had an issue
with anybody.

And then suddenly overnight,
because someone
said something,

I was a bully.

[upbeat music playing]

♪ Tell my soul
Only love forgives ♪

♪ Only love forgives
Tell my soul♪

♪ Only love forgives
Only love forgives ♪

♪ Tell my soul♪

♪ Only love
Only love forgives ♪