On Sunday, Taylor Swift shared a lengthy post on Tumblr after it was announced that Scooter Braun's company, Ithaca Holdings, had acquired her former record label, Big Machine Records, for $300 million.
Swift left Big Machine Records in late 2018 when her 10-year contract ended. She went on to sign a new deal with Republic Records.
In the post, she revealed that while her new deal means she'll own the master recordings of her work going forward, Big Machine — and, by extension, Braun — will retain the rights to all six of her albums "in perpetuity".
Swift revealed in her Tumblr post that Braun's ownership of the rights to her "life's work" was her "worst nightmare".
"Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to," Swift went on. "He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever."
Hours after Swift shared the post, countless fans and celebrities — including Cara Delevingne, Halsey, and Brendon Urie — shared messages of support for her.
🦋 @taylorswift13
Others, including Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato, sided with Braun.
However, one thing that has sparked anger among Swift fans was a post that Braun shared to social media in the hours after the news broke of him acquiring Big Machine, but before Swift posted her Tumblr note.
The post was a screenshot of an image that one of Braun's friends shared on social media, which displayed the news of his acquisition alongside the caption: "When your friend buys Taylor Swift!"
Braun went on to reshare the image, along with a series of other congratulatory messages, on his own Instagram story. It appears, however, that the post was deleted after Swift published her note.
But as everyone knows, screenshots exist forever online, and so Swifties were quick to share it across Twitter and Tumblr, suggesting it "proved" Braun's intentions.
"So ... scooter braun didn't celebrate buying the label, he celebrated buying taylor swift," wrote one fan.
"Scooter is deadass okay with joking about buying women, jfc," wrote another.
One fan called the post "misogynistic to say the least".
And another criticised Braun for "bragging" about "buying" Swift.
Then, over on Tumblr, Swift herself liked these posts from fans expressing their disdain and disbelief regarding the comment.
