Taylor Swift has officially surpassed Michael Jackson. The late icon previously held the record for the artist with the most American Music Awards, with 24 honors. Ahead of the Sunday, November 24, show, the 29-year-old singer had 23 wins. She then tied the King of Pop after she was named Artist of the Decade. She passed the 15-time Grammy winner’s record when she was announced as the winner of Favorite Album (Pop/Rock).
The “You Need to Calm Down” singer was also nominated for Favorite Music Video (“You Need to Calm Down”), Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Artist and Artist of the Year.
The 10-time Grammy winner was in the spotlight ahead of the AMAs due to her public dispute with Big Machine Records’ Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun. She has been feuding with Borchetta, 57, and Braun, 38, since June, when she claimed Borchetta sold her back music catalog to Braun. Swift brought it back up on November 14, claiming on Twitter that she was being blocked from performing her old hits at the AMAs.
“Taylor has had to plan a different performance for the AMAs because Big Machine has not waived the rerecord restriction provision and they have claimed the rebroadcast would be a breach of her contract,” a source close to the “The Man” singer told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of the show. “Our show is taped to air later in over 200 countries, is available on video on demand and posts on YouTube after the live performance airs.”
Big Machine Records denied her allegations, claiming that they made an agreement with Dick Clark Productions, allowing the artist to perform her songs at the AMAs. The production company denied that a deal existed.
On Friday, November 22, Braun claimed on Instagram that his family was receiving death threats and that he wanted to discuss the issues with Swift in person.
“Since your public statement last week there have been numerous death threats directed at my family. This morning I spoke out publicly for the first time saying I wouldn’t participate in a social media war. However, I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children as well as other threats seen above,” the producer wrote. “I am certain there is no situation ever worth jeopardizing anyone’s safety. I assume this was not your intention, but it is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways. While disappointed that you have remained silent after being notified by your attorney 4 days ago of these ongoing [death] threats, I’m still hopeful we can fix this.”
