Subscribe
Follow Us
Scooter Braun is setting the record straight on whether he believes he and his ex-wife were the inspiration behind Taylor Swift's song “Vigilante S—.”
The former music manager recently shared that the song found on Swift's 2022 Midnights album, which talks about a divorced couple, could not be about him and his ex-wife Yael Cohen because that's not how their relationship is.
“‘Cause me and Yael talk every day,” Braun shared on the July 17 episode of the Question Everything podcast. “My ex-wife is one of my best friends. So, me and my ex-wife laugh at that stuff.”
Braun and Cohen got divorced in 2022 and share three children together: Jagger, 9, Levi, 7, and Hart, 5. He shared that he has a beyond positive co-parenting experience with Cohen, whom he still considers family and not an ex.
“That's the mother of my children,” he said. “That is my family for life. I have a tattoo on my finger that says ‘same team' after my divorce because she and I are the same team for life. It's what we say to each other.”
While it's been the rumor for several years that the song has a tie to their split, Braun debunked that allegation.
“Great strategy move,” Braun said, “but no.”
The song is about a woman seeking revenge and in the first lines of the record, Swift boldly shares her intentions.
“Draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man/You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them/Sometimes, I wonder which one'll be your last lie/They say looks can kill and I might try,” she sings.
If the song were about Cohen and Braun, the last line of the of verse two has the most direct hit at the former manager.
“She needed cold hard proof so I gave her some,” Taylor sings on the second verse of the Midnights song. “She had the envelope, where you think she got it from? / Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride / Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife.”
Braun is the co-owner of Gaming Organization 100 Thieves, which Swift seemingly alludes to in her last line of the second verse.
Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift Tumultuous Relationship
Swift and Braun have had a tumultuous relationship over the years after he bought the record label which originally owned her albums first six recordings, and sold them to Shamrock Capital in November 2020. The 14-time Grammy winner reportedly bought her masters for $360 million back in May. Shortly after the “Cruel Summer” singer bought her masters back, a rumor spread that Braun is the one that helped in the sale.
“Contrary to a previous false report, there was no outside party who ‘encouraged’ this sale. All rightful credit for this opportunity should go to the partners at Shamrock Capital and Taylor’s Nashville-based management team only,” the source told PEOPLE. “Taylor now owns all of her music, and this moment finally happened in spite of Scooter Braun, not because of him.”
In a handwritten note on her website, Swift shared her excitement for gaining ownership of her masters after years of wanting this moment.
“I’m trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and prayed away for a chance to get to tell you this news. All the times I was thisssss close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through. I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away. But that’s all in the past now. I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs to me.”
