First Justin Bieber, then Demi Lovato, then Ariana Grande: all artists leaving Scooter Braun’s management company.
Yet there is little information to be found on what is being positioned by some as an exodus from Braun’s SB Projects. Lovato’s “amicable” departure has been confirmed off the record by sources from both camps.
However, Bieber’s impending departure was strenuously denied by multiple sources. And Grande’s exit–which, if true, would be the second time she’s parted ways with him–was strenuously denied by sources close to Braun.
The situation has reached strange netherworld of off-the-record confirmations and denials where one set of sources says one thing and another says the opposite.
Sources say that Bieber and Grande are not leaving the company, but rather Braun is continuing to step back from management to focus on his role as CEO of HYBE America, the South Korean entertainment giant behind K-pop titans BTS.
He sold them Ithaca Holdings, the parent company for his SB Projects business, for a whopping $1.05 billion in 2021.
However, other sources insist that Bieber, who recently “cleaned house” and brought in a new attorney, agency and business manager, is set on leaving SB Projects.
Complicating matters is the fact that the famously hard-charging Braun, who has been one of the most powerful people in the music business for more than a decade, garnered so much ill will — and envy — in his rise to the top that the situation has reached a kind of snowballing mob mentality: The schadenfreude is so strong, and foes want him to fail so badly, that people lose perspective. Not helping matters is Braun’s fervent desire to be seen as a good guy and his formidable ability to spin narratives in his favor; the agendas and interests of the involved parties — including, apparently, some media outlets — have only clouded the matter further.
However, another source counters, “He’s getting out of management — he has been for years. That’s the real story.”
Braun has been only tangentially involved in the careers of his biggest artists in recent years, with SB Projects’ longtime execs handling the demanding day-to-day work of managing major artists.
By age 40, Braun had achieved many of his ambitions, ushering several artists to superstardom and organizing One Love Manchester–a major charity concert starring Grande, Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Mac Miller, Miley Cyrus in the wake of 2017 terrorist bombing outside a Grande concert in which 22 people died — in just two weeks.
His reputation took hit with his controversial 2018 acquisition of the rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums via his purchase of Big Machine Record Group, which she claimed was underhanded, and followed months of taunts from Braun and some of his clients and friends, including Bieber and Kanye West.
Despite her statements against him — and her fans’ merciless attacks on social media — he managed to sell that catalog to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million, earning tidy profit, and then sold Ithaca Holdings for a whopping $1.05 billion. Shortly after the deal closed, he purchased a $65 million house in Los Angeles’ wealthy Brentwood enclave.
Braun has spoken of how much money his artists and execs made on the deal as shareholders of the company. According to a corporate filing from HYBE, Braun’s artists and staff, including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, J Balvin and Demi Lovato, received shares totaling about $161 million. He and Big Machine Record Group founder Scott Borchetta got the lion’s share, with Braun receiving 462,380 shares (around $86.2 million) and Borchetta 166,537 ($31.1 million); Grande and Bieber each got 53,557 shares, just under $11 million apiece.
