Cue the mudslinging.
Just a few weeks after publicly making amends with long-time frenemy Katy Perry, Taylor Swift sparked a new brouhaha with a major music industry heavyweight â triggering backlash (and backup) from some of the worldâs biggest popstars.
In less than 24 hours, the fight has dredged up Swiftâs longstanding rift with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, earned a half-apology from Justin Bieber and prompted accusations of lies, deleted Instagram posts and even homophobia.
In short, the situation is messy. Hereâs what you need to know.
WHAT HAPPENED?
It all began with a Tumblr post.
On Sunday, Swift that accuses music manager Scooter Braun, who is best known for managing Justin Bieber, of years of âincessant, manipulative bullying.â
Swiftâs post came on the same day that news broke that Braun purchased the original recordings of Swiftâs songs, otherwise known as masters.
According to Swift, she was never given the opportunity to buy the masters herself, and now theyâre in the hands of someone she alleges tried to ruin her career.
âLike when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it,â Swift wrote.
In her post, Swift attached one of Bieberâs old Instagram pictures, which also depicts Braun, with the caption âTaylor swift what up.â
Bieber made the jibing post in 2016 after Kim Kardashian released an audio recording of a telephone conversation between her husband, Kanye West, and Swift, that appeared to show Swift approving unflattering lyrics about Swift in Westâs song âFamous.â (Swift had previously denied giving West permission to call her a âbitchâ on the track.)
Swift also linked Braun to Westâs video for âFamous,â which she described as âa revenge porn music video which strips my body naked.â West is one of Braunâs clients.
âNow Scooter has stripped me of my lifeâs work, that I wasnât given an opportunity to buy,â Swift wrote.
But Braun wasnât the only one implicated in the post. Swift also called out Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, who scouted out Swift when she was a teenager.
In her post, Swift accused Borchetta of selling her out.
âThis is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term âloyaltyâ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says âMusic has valueâ, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it,â she wrote.
âWhen I left my masters in Scottâs hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words âScooter Braunâ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didnât want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.â
Swift, who has since signed with Universal Music, ended the post by saying that she is still proud her of earlier music, but that she feels âsad and grossed outâ by the debacle.
She also plugged her new album, âLover,â which she pointed out is due for release on August 23.
THE FALLOUT
It didnât take long for the pile-on to begin.
Bieber quickly responded with that begins as an apology before accusing Swift of playing the victim.
Bieber said Braun didnât have anything to do with the âTaylor swift what up postâ and that he actually discouraged him from posting it. He also accuses Swift of âcrossing a lineâ by publishing her grievances on the internet.
âWhat were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? Seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter,â he wrote.
Bieber added that heâs open to talk with Swift about the situation: âAnyway, one thing I know is both scooter and I love you.â
Braunâs wife, Yael Cohen Braun, was less diplomatic. She accused Swift of flat-out lying about not having a chance to buy her own masters.
âYou were given the opportunity to own your masters, you passed,â she wrote on Instagram. âYour dad is a shareholder and was notified, and Borchetta personally told you before this came out.â
Borchetta stood by the same version of events. In Borchetta said Swiftâs father was alerted to the masters deal before it went through. He added that he texted Swift on Saturday to let her know about Braunâs purchase.
âTaylor has every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave,â Borchetta wrote.
Braunâs wife also poked fun at Swiftâs accusation of bullying, and suggests that Swift is the real culprit.
âThe world has watched you collect and drop friends like wilted flowers,â she wrote.
Demi Lovato also jumped in to support Braun. In posted late Sunday, Lovato described the manager as a âgood manâ and told critics to lay off.
âYâall can come after me all you want but Iâm always gonna stay loyal to my team,â she wrote.
TEAM TAYLOR
Swift has plenty of supporters in her corner.
Model Cara Delevingne, a longtime friend of Swift, responded to Bieberâs Instagram post by encouraging him to âtake a step back and try to learn from this.â
âI wish you spent less time sticking up for men and more time trying to understand women and respecting their valid reactions,â she wrote.
The comment has since been deleted from Bieberâs post.
Singer Todrick Hall, who served as co-executive producer on Swiftâs latest music video âYou Need to Calm Down,â and accused him of being a homophobe.
âHe is an evil person whoâs only concern is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego. I believe he is homophobic & know from his own mouth that he is not a Swift fan,â Hall wrote.
âI truly hope justice is served and that my friendâs music will fall into the hands of a better human.â
Demi Lovato and defended Braun, insisting that he isnât homophobic.
âPlease donât spread information that isnât true because I can guarantee you Scooter isnât. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, he wouldnât have signed me if he was,â Lovato wrote.
Pop star Halsey also stood by Swift, saying the situation depicts a larger problem of how writers are treated by the music industry.
âShe deserves to own the painstaking labor of her heart,â Halsey
SOME CONTEXT
The spat comes one month before Swift is set to drop her new album, and the popstar has been known for harnessing controversy to sell records.
Swiftâs last album, âReputation,â launched with the single which many critics saw as a lyrical tongue-and-cheek rebuke to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Similarly, her 2015 single âBad Blood,â about the betrayal of a close friend, was widely believed to be about with whom Swift has had an on-again, off-again friendship. The pair recently made amends after Perry appeared in Swift's new music video.