Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Stars support singer after she is 'banned' from performing old songs at the AMAs

Gigi Hadid, Lily Allen and Ruby Rose have all thrown their weight behind the star
US-ENTERTAINMENT-MUSIC-SWIFT
1/72
Isobel Frodsham15 November 2019
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Stars have backed Taylor Swift after her row with Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun was reignited.

The singer, 29, has accused Borchetta, the head of her former label Big Machine Records, and Braun, who owns Swift’s back catalogue of music, of not allowing her to perform her songs at the American Music Awards.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid, actress Ruby Rose and singers Halsey and Lily Allen all voiced their support for Swift.

Hadid tweeted: “Scott and Scooter, you know what the right thing to do is. Taylor and her fans deserve to celebrate the music!!”

Rose, known for roles in TV series Orange Is The New Black and Batwoman, said: “This is not OK…”

Posting on her Instagram Story, Halsey said: “These people are protected because they inspire complicity with fear.

“Banking on the illusion that people will not stand up for her. That the world will say she is over reacting, You’re barking up the wrong tree.

“It is her grace and patience in these moments that make her Artist of the Decade.”

Other stars who have backed Swift include director Joseph Khan, who worked with her on the videos for tracks including Blank Space, Look What You Made Me Do and Delicate.

BBC Radio 1 Breakfast host Greg James also posted online, along with Tinashe and Todrick Hall:

She is due to be honoured at the American Music Awards on Monday, November 25 with the Artist of the Decade gong.

Swift said she planned to perform a medley of her songs at the ceremony, but claimed she was banned from doing so by Borchetta and Braun as it would count as “re-recording” her old music.

Braun, whose clients include Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato, acquired Swift’s back catalogue earlier this year when he bought Borchetta’s record label, Big Machine.

Swift said Braun and Borchetta would only give her permission to perform songs from her first six albums if she agreed not to re-record them in the future and not speak negatively about the pair in public.

Taylor Swift's best ever tracks

1/15

In a statement shared on Friday afternoon, Big Machine Label Group said they were “shocked” and that Swift's claims are “based on false information.”

“At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere,” they said. “Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.”

While clarifying that Swift is free to perform at the event, the statement does not directly address her claim that they will not “allow” her to perform old tracks.

Shortly after Swift shared her candid post, fans launched a petition aimed at Borchetta and Braun.

Within less than 12 hours, it amassed more than 55,000 signatures.

Standard Online has contacted all of the representatives concerned for further comment.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in