Demi Lovato is parting ways with mega-manager Scooter Braun, The Independent understands.
The news comes a week after rumours circulated that Justin Bieber was also leaving Braun’s management after 16 years of working together. Representatives for both Bieber and Braun have since denied the reports.
On Monday (21 August), Billboard was the first to report that Lovato was seeking new management after splitting with Braun’s SB Projects last month.
The Independent has contacted Braun’s representatives for comment.
The 31-year-old “Heart Attack” singer signed with Braun in 2019, writing on Instagram at the time: “Dreams came true for me. I officially have a NEW MANAGER. And not just any manager but the one and only Scooter Braun.
“Couldn’t be happier, inspired and excited to begin this next chapter,” she continued. “Thank you for believing in me and for being a part of this new journey.”
Lovato joins popular Columbian singer J Balvin who also left Braun’s management in May this year.
Scooter Braun (left) and Demi Lovato— (Getty Images)
Braun has been embroiled in a feud with pop megastar Taylor Swift since 2019 when he bought her longtime label, Big Machine Records, plus the rights to the master recordings of her first six studio albums. Later, in November 2020, Braun sold the masters to an investment fund in a deal that was believed to be over $300 million.
At the time of the sale, Swift, who had wished to purchase the masters herself, condemned Braun, labelling him a “bully” and “the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry”.
She has since gone on a campaign to re-record her albums in order to make sure the new owners of her masters don’t profit from her music, encouraging her fans to listen to the highly successful “Taylor’s Versions”.
In an interview with NPR’s Jay Williams last year, Braun said that the controversy was a “learning lesson”.
“The regret I have there is that I made the assumption that everyone, once the deal was done, was going to have a conversation with me, see my intent, see my character and say, great, let’s be in business together,” he said.
In November 2020, Swift said, “[Braun] would never even quote my team a price” and that she was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement that would “silence [her] forever.” Braun’s team disputed the claim.
“I can’t put myself in a place of, you know, arrogance to think that someone would just be willing to have a conversation and be excited to work with me,” he told NPR. “I don’t know these people.”
He continued to say that he still believes he was “treated unfairly” in the ensuing fallout from the purchase but understands, “from the other side”, how Swift thought it was unfair, too.
“So I choose to look at it as a learning lesson, a growing lesson, and I wish everyone involved well,” he concluded.
