What are Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and music mogul Scooter Braun all doing in a news story together? It involves the latter's acquisition of Big Machine Label Group, which owns all six studio albums put out by Swift before she signed with Universal in November, as well as work by Sheryl Crow, Lady Antebellum, and other big names. It's a $300 million buy, per the Wall Street Journal, and one that Swift calls a "worst-case scenario," thanks to the "incessant, manipulative bullying" she claims she suffered at the hands of Braun for years, as well as from Kardashian, and Braun clients West and Bieber, the Guardian reports. The backstory, per a post on Swift's Tumblr: Kardashian allegedly arranged for part of a phone call with Swift to be leaked, and then Braun, Bieber, and West "bullied" her in a 2016 Instagram post put up by Bieber, per Page Six.
Swift also claims West "organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked," that her efforts to retain ownership of her work were stymied by onerous conditions, and that she didn't know about the BMLG sale ahead of time. "My musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it," Swift wrote. Bieber responded online in which he apologized to Swift for the original "hurtful" Instagram post, but he also defended Braun, telling Swift "one thing i know is both scooter and i love you." Meanwhile, Billboard reports BMLG CEO Scott Borchetta put up a missive Sunday night on the BMLG site, refuting Swift's allegations. "I truly doubt that she 'woke up to the news when everyone else did,'" he wrote, noting that not only is Swift's father a BMLG shareholder who would've known of the sale, but also that he, Borchetta, personally texted Swift on Saturday to give her a heads-up. (More Taylor Swift stories.)
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