In a pretty spooky case of coincidence, news that Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato have both reportedly parted ways with their manager Scooter Braun comes almost four years to the day after Taylor Swift confirmed she planned to re-record her first five albums - from her debut to 1989.
On 22 August 2019, the 'Cruel Summer' singer told Good Morning America she was “very excited” to be able to release her own versions of her back catalogue, after Braun bought her former record label Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) and, with that, the rights to the masters of her earlier work.
She said: “It’s something I’m very excited about doing because my contract says that starting November 2020 – so next year – I can record albums one through five all over again.”
When that month came around, Swift alleged Braun sold the master rights and “100 per cent of my music, videos, and album art” to a private equity firm known as Shamrock Holdings.
The musician is now with Universal Music Group’s Republic Records, and is continuing to re-release past albums with the additional stamp of ‘Taylor’s Version’ on them.
We’ve already had revamped versions of Fearless, Red and Speak Now, with Swift recently announcing that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) would be coming later this year.
Although she told Good Morning America she would re-record her first five albums, Swift eventually had six records under her belt when she parted ways with BMLG, meaning fans can still expect Reputation and her debut, Taylor Swift, to be re-released.
And Swift hasn’t held back from making her feelings known about Braun in recent years, with the music video from her track “The Man” – from her seventh album, Lover – showing Swift in prosthetics as a male protagonist urinating against a wall featuring the names of past albums graffitied onto it.
There’s a sign banning the riding of scooters (wink, wink), and another which reads: “Missing: if found return to Taylor Swift.”
Ouch.
Now things haven’t been much better for Braun, as on Monday 21 August – close to four years since that Good Morning America interview - it was reported both Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato have split from the music manager, and last week there were rumours Justin Bieber would do the same.
Although representatives for Lovato, Grande and Braun all declined to comment when approached by Billboard, the outlet cites sources who have confirmed the artists’ dramatic decision.
Of course, Swifties have been absolutely relishing what they consider to be an incredible case of “karma” – conveniently, the name of a song by Swift herself:
And as if the anniversary of Swift’s Good Morning America interview matching the ditching of Braun by Lovato and Grande wasn’t enough, one Swiftie pointed out that the star announced the release of her album Reputation – famed for its rumoured digs at the likes of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian – on 23 August 2017.
This is Taylor Swift’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
