Break up with your … manager? Ariana Grande once fired Scooter Braun after he interfered with her personal life, multiple sources reveal exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly.
“He definitely gets involved in his clients’ business and personal relationships,” one source says. “At one point, Ariana fired him because she had had it.”
A second insider explains that the Grammy winner, 26, decided to part ways with the talent manager, 38, “over a misunderstanding,” but they resumed their professional relationship six months later. “Per Ariana, anyone who suggests otherwise is part of the problem and no longer working with her,” the second insider tells Us.
Braun — who helped organize One Love Manchester after a May 2017 terror attack at Grande’s U.K. concert, raising millions of dollars for those affected — briefly spoke about the driving force behind his past rift with Grande in an October 2018 interview.
“When s–tty boyfriends leave, she starts to see the light on some stuff, and one day I got a phone call,” he told Variety at the time, without naming the boyfriend in question. “I went over there and we had a very honest conversation. Where it made me a better manager, number one, it allowed me to know that I can be fired — I had never been fired before.”
Fast-forward to present day, and Braun now has drama with Taylor Swift after he purchased her former label, Big Machine Records, and acquired her master recordings. The “You Need to Calm Down” singer, 29, took to Tumblr on June 30 to blast the businessman, accusing him of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and calling the sale her “worst case scenario.”
Swift’s blog post divided Hollywood, with stars including Halsey, Cher and Camila Cabello taking her side and Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato and Sia taking Braun’s. A third source told Us that the SB Projects founder is “open to having a private conversation with Taylor to clear up everything that went down,” although he “has no intention of releasing a formal statement and blowing up the situation even more.”
For more details on the bad blood between Braun and Swift, watch the video above and pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
