Scooter Braun gave a rare interview in a sit-down with The Free Press’ Second Thought podcast published Thursday, where the music executive weighed in on a wide range of topics, from the strength of Spencer Pratt’s mayoral run to the monopoly allegations against Live Nation and Ticketmaster to the controversy from his now-infamous decision to purchase Taylor Swift’s masters when he bought Big Machine Records back in 2019.
The Free Press’ Suzy Weiss started the interview by immediately asking if he’d be voting for Pratt, to which Braun said he doesn’t tell people who he votes for but called himself a moderate who votes both ways. He said it is “very possible” he could win the election.
“What I really do appreciate about what Spencer’s doing is he is bringing a lot of things to light that no one’s brought to light,” Braun said. “I think he’s speaking for a lot of people who are very frustrated and want common sense and want people to speak plainly and address certain things. It’s very interesting to watch.”
Pratt’s campaign has turned L.A.’s mayoral race into a national news story, with entertainment figures such as Joe Rogan and Adam Carolla — along with President Donald Trump — all endorsing him for the job. The former reality star with no political experience is predictably the most controversial candidate in the race, as others including Jimmy Kimmel and Drew Carey have both encouraged voters to steer away from him.
Beyond Pratt, Braun discussed finding his former management client Justin Bieber in his early days, referring to the pop star as “one of the most extraordinary talents, he was charismatic, he was brave.”
He also spoke about fellow former superstar client Kanye West, whom he represented from 2016 to 2018 during the rapper’s The Life of Pablo era. Braun, who is Jewish, acknowledged West’s antisemitic comments over the past several years, calling them “very upsetting to me,” but he also lauded the rapper for his creative brilliance he’d witnessed at the time, saying West “taught me how to see colors and design differently,” recalling a story of West quickly designing the famous shirts from his Saint Pablo Tour.
West was hesitant to sell merchandise on the tour over fear of quality, but in a meeting with West and the late artist and fashion designer Virgil Abloh at West’s New York apartment, Braun told him fans wanted something to buy since no one had ticket stubs anymore.
“He goes ‘Virgil, come here.’ He basically designs a T-shirt that says ‘Admission.’ And he puts the date of the show the next day and everything else, and he goes, ‘There’s your merch.’ He heard this story and he turned it into [the shirt] and it ended up being the greatest selling T-shirt and broke every single merch record. That was the genius of him.”
Braun said his reputation dramatically changed “overnight” after he bought Swift’s masters in the deal to purchase Big Machine in 2019, saying “it went from being loved and appreciated for over a decade to literally the next night,” he was a villain.
“I don’t know Taylor Swift,” Braun said looking back on the controversy. “I think I’ve met her in my life three times. I’ve never had a substantial conversation with her in my life. I one time got invited to a private party by her. She told me she had the utmost respect for me. I told her I had the most respect for her. You don’t spend $300 million buying a label that she’s on unless you’re excited at the opportunity to work with her. I will never truly understand that situation to this day. I wish her nothing but the best, I learned a tremendous amount from it.”
Braun called it “this big misconception that we knew each other and we had this feud,” adding that “people are shocked to find out that I legitimately don’t know her and didn’t have many interactions with her and never really knew her.”
For her part, Swift wrote an extensive note on her Tumblr account after the sale, writing that “any time [Big Machine founder] Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to.”
Braun went on to sell Swift’s masters to VC firm Shamrock, and Swift of course ended up buying the rights back last year.
Braun further touched on speaking out on antisemitism and zionism after Oct. 7, saying, “I think we have a major problem in the world today of not taking the time to discuss the word nuance, to discuss the gray.”
In the interview, Braun only alluded to his relationship with Sydney Sweeney, not saying her name and declining to tell Weiss how they met, saying “not gonna go into that, that’s personal.”
“I’ve met an extraordinary woman,” Braun said. “She’s kind and generous and smart and real and down to earth and one of the biggest surprises ever.”
Weiss asked if he’s been watching Euphoria, to which he said: “I’m biased, I like it. I think there’s been an incredible performance by a certain actress.”
Watch the full interview below.
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