As if we needed more names attached to Braun-gate, Taylor Swift's ride-or-die Jack Antonoff has joined the conversation with a poignant — and shady — meme.
ICYMI: Scooter Braun has been dominating headlines for over a week following reports that multiple A-list artists on his roster had parted ways with him. Idina Menzel and Demi Lovato have both been confirmed to have left SB Projects, while rumors about Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's departures have since been denied. However, that has not stopped speculation from running rampant, and that's where Antonoff comes in.
As documented by PopCrave, Jack Antonoff seemingly poked fun at the exodus of Braun's celebrity clientele over the weekend, when speculation was at an all-time high, with a meme shared to his Instagram Stories.
Using the popular Sims baby on fire meme template, Antonoff's post read: "Not now, sweetie, mommy is trying to figure out why Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Idina Menzel just fired Scooter Braun as their manager." Antonoff, who's also the frontman of rock band Bleachers, accompanied the meme with a link to the band's newly released Radio City Music Hall live album.
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Braun's situation became a meme of its own — in which Braun himself also participated — way before Antonoff shared his post, but there's no denying that the latter definitely stirred the pot.
In case you need a refresher, Jack Antonoff is one of Taylor Swift's best friends and longest-standing collaborators, having worked on more than 50 songs together across writing and producing. Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun's history is more than well documented. In 2019, Braun's company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Swift's former record label, Big Machine Records, gaining control of her masters dating back to 2006 and up until 2017's Reputation.
"Some fun facts about today's news: I learned about Scooter Braun's purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years," Swift's lengthy statement posted on her Tumblr read. "Scooter has stripped me of my life's work, that I wasn't given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it."
Swift also later publicly called out Braun for impeding her from using her own recordings. Even though Braun eventually sold Swift's masters for more than $300 million, the entire situation prompted Swift to re-record and release the "Taylor's Version" of her repertoire, which so far includes Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989, which is slated for an October release — all of which have been co-produced by Antonoff.
So, is it just a meme or more of a dig? A music industry source with knowledge of Scooter Braun's situation recently told Teen Vogue that all of the speculation stems from Braun's preparation to fully take on the role of sole CEO at HYBE America. "All of Scooter Braun's clients are under contract and negotiations have been going on for several months as Scooter steps into his larger role as HYBE America CEO," the insider shared. “People are spreading rumors based on what they know, but they are off.”
