Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun have been a packaged deal since the early 2000s — but rumors recently surfaced that their partnership is on the rocks.
Bieber, 29, has allegedly been “poking around for a new agency or manager,” according to a Puck News article published on Friday, August 18. The outlet claimed that Bieber and Braun, 42, haven’t “spoken for months” as the “Baby” singer entertains other business options.
The alleged drama, however, is unfounded, with reps for both parties confirming to Us Weekly, “This is not true.”
Braun discovered Bieber in 2007 after stumbling upon one of the singer’s YouTube videos. When Bieber signed a record deal with Island Records the following year, Braun was on hand as his manager as Bieber was also signed to Raymond Braun Media (RBMG), which was a joint venture between Braun and Usher.
The twosome have since worked together on all six of Bieber’s studio albums including his debut record, My World 2.0, and Bieber’s latest album, 2021’s Justice.
Throughout their professional relationship, Bieber and Braun have also become close friends. When Braun married Yael Cohen in July 2014, Bieber was on hand to celebrate. (Braun split from his wife, 36, in July 2011. Their divorce was finalized in September 2022.)
Braun returned the favor in September 2019 when Bieber married Hailey Bieber in a South Carolina celebration one year after legally tying the knot at an NYC courthouse. Ahead of Justin’s second ceremony, the “Yummy” singer publicly backed Braun as the manager faced off against Taylor Swift over her masters collection.
Swift, 33, revealed in June 2019 that Braun bought the rights to the music she made on former record label Big Machine from 2006 to 2018. Swift claimed at the time that Braun didn’t give her the chance to bid on her own work — and neither did Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta — which she described as the “worst case scenario” because it meant her “musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” referring to Braun allegedly “bullying” her in the past.
Justin, however, claimed in June 2019 that Braun was always supportive of Swift. “Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you!” Justin wrote via Instagram at the time. “As the years have passed, we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on Scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully Scooter.”
He added: “One thing I know is both scooter and I love you. … Neither scooter or I have anything negative to say about you, we truly want the best for you.”
Braun broke his silence over the Swift recordings in November 2019 at the Entertainment Industry Conference. “We just need to go behind closed doors and see if we can have a conversation. And if we’re not having conversations, then I don’t think we’re going to find resolution,” he said. Braun sold Swift’s master rights for her first six albums to Shamrock Holdings in 2020.
In the wake of her masters controversy, Swift decided to rerecord her original catalog adding “(Taylor’s Version)” to the end of each album title.
