Scoot scoot!
Photo: Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images
Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel, and J Balvin all cut ties with Scooter Braun. Now, Braun has a split to announce — with his management career. The mogul shared on June 17 that he is retiring from management while continuing in his role as CEO of HYBE America. (He said he wanted to spend more time with his kids, noting that his “personal life took some hits.”) In a long statement, Braun said that after one of his “biggest clients and friends” ([cough] Ariana [cough]) decided to stop working with him, he “saw it as a sign” to leave management. Many of his former clients have since signed with new managers, though some, like Grande, will continue to work with Braun and HYBE through existing business deals. Below, a rundown of what’s going on with the biggest names in music — Braun included.
A day before Braun revealed his retirement, a rep for Braun’s most prominent client told People that Bieber was no longer working with Braun or his company SB Projects. “Justin is excited about the projects he is currently working on and is focused on what’s in front of him,” the rep said. That news came as Bieber also split with his business manager, Lou Taylor, the controversial former manager of Britney Spears, whom he’s worked with since 2022. Bieber’s business will now be handled by Edward White, best known as Johnny Depp’s financial advisor. He sure knows how to pick ’em!
Reports of a rift between Braun and Bieber — the client he’s been identified by for most of his career — first kicked off the speculation on Braun’s empire. While Puck reported the two hadn’t spoken in months as Bieber searches for new management, Billboard since revealed Bieber was still under contract through 2027. In the meantime, Bieber and Braun’s reps put out a joint statement denying his departure.
Grande’s relationship to Braun has gone from a breakup to “it’s complicated.” Billboard reported on June 12 that she will continue to work with Braun and HYBE, where he is CEO, while joining HYBE’s social platform Weverse. The report specifically mentions Grande’s R.E.M. Beauty as a partnership that will continue with Braun and HYBE. However, Brandon Creed, whose Good World Management signed her in December 2023, will still “exclusively” manage Grande.
Grande and Braun first began working together in 2013 with her first album Yours Truly, coincidentally the same one that was rereleased for its tenth anniversary on August 25, 2023. A report in Puck claimed Grande was disappointed that Braun did not step up amid tabloid scrutiny on her divorce from Dalton Gomez and new relationship with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater. Braun was reportedly on vacation in Europe when Grande’s team asked him to come to New York. “I deserve a vacation,” he’s said to have replied. One source called Grande’s departure “a long time coming.” She has also reportedly fired and rehired Braun multiple times, not just the instance that was previously reported in 2016. Meanwhile, a source simply told People that Grande has “outgrown” Braun and is “excited to go in a different direction.” Regardless, per Puck, Grande still has time left on her contract with Braun, who wants to keep her (and Bieber) working with HYBE in some way. The Grande source, however, dismissed reports on Grande and HYBE as “speculative at best and not based on fact.”
The reggaeton star reportedly left Braun in May, before the current mass exodus; he signed in 2019. It’s unclear if his departure was related to the others, since he signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation shortly after leaving.
Demi Lovato first signed with Braun in 2019. Like Grande, they are also now working with Brandon Creed. Idina Menzel also signed with Braun in 2019 and reportedly left in January 2023. Reps told the Associated Press that Carly Rae Jepsen, BabyJake, and Asher Roth all stopped working with Braun a while ago.
It’s unclear how much artists were working directly with Braun before his retirement, since most artists signed to SB Projects have separate day-to-day managers. That said, Billboard reports a number of artists were still on the SB roster in 2023 (or have not confirmed that they left). These include some of Braun’s longtime clients like Tori Kelly (whom he signed in 2013), the Black Eyed Peas (2015), and Lil Dicky (2016). Country acts Dan + Shay and Zac Brown Band, who both signed in 2018 (in a co-management deal), appear to still be on the roster, as do rappers YG (2020) and Quavo (2021, also co-managed), and producer Andrew Watt (around 2017). The Kid Laroi notoriously left SB Projects in September 2021, shortly after signing, but returned in May 2022 after his new manager resigned. And SB Projects has continued to sign new clients in 2023, including Ava Max, who confirmed to the AP she is still working with Braun, and Ozuna, who signed with SB Projects in June 2023.
After memes about who Braun is and isn’t managing began to spread, Braun snarked out one of his own, tweeting, “Breaking news … I’m no longer managing myself.” What he is managing to do currently is be on vacation with Usher.
Meanwhile, sources are disagreeing with one another in the press, leaving many people confused about what exactly is going on over at Camp Braun. Some have hinted at more issues at play. “It’s a different world since the pandemic,” one source told Variety. “You just can’t be an asshole like that anymore.” But others claim the reporting is a misinterpretation of Braun’s career shift. “He’s getting out of management — he has been for years,” a different source said. “That’s the real story.” In “Page Six,” a source assured that all was fine: “All of Scooter Braun’s clients are under contract, and negotiations have been going on for several months as Scooter steps into his larger role as HYBE America CEO.” But another simply added, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” So, what’s the scoot scoop?
This post has been updated throughout.
