After years of drama, Taylor Swift’s back-and-forth music drama with Big Machine Records’ Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun has seemingly come to an end.
The Grammy winner had been in conflict with the pair ever since she moved to Republic Records in November 2018. The following June, Braun acquired Big Machine and Swift’s back catalog of master recordings as part of an estimated $300 million deal.
Swift subsequently took to Tumblr to alert fans that she “had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past.” In her blog post, she claimed she “learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world” and called out the talent manager for years of “incessant, manipulative bullying” at the hands of his clients Justin Bieber and Kanye West. She called the deal her “worst case scenario.”
Borchetta and Braun’s then-wife, Yael Cohen, were among those who publicly rebutted the claims in the Tumblr post, while celebrities including Halsey, Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran and Cher sided with Swift.
The controversy made headlines again in November 2020 after Braun sold Swift’s masters to a private equity company, Shamrock Holdings, in yet another move that she claimed had been done behind her back. (Reports have claimed that Braun gave Swift the opportunity to buy her masters prior to Shamrock Capital’s acquisition.) However, Swift announced in May 2025 that had officially acquired ownership of all her past work.
Scroll down for a complete timeline of the music industry showdown:
