Scooter Braun, the owner of Big Machine Records, which Swift was signed to for the first 12 years of her career, revealed his family has received death threats from the singer’s fans.
In a string of recent social media posts, Swift accused Braun and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta of preventing her from performing songs from her catalog at the 2019 American Music Awards, which is set to air live on Sunday. Swift will be honored with the Artist of the Decade Award during the ceremony.
Braun has remained silent on social media in regards to the controversy surrounding his dealings with Swift, however, that changed when he shared an open letter on Instagram revealing “there have been numerous death threats” directed at his family since Swift first made her public statement on October 14.
“This morning I spoke out publicly for the first time saying I wouldn’t participate in a social media war. However, I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children as well as other threats seen above. I won’t go into the details of this past week. I have been at a loss,” Braun wrote on Thursday night. “Thinking of my wife and children, my team and their families, I have gone through a range of emotions on how to deal with this. I write this now only after a deep breath and much reflection. I am certain there is no situation ever worth jeopardizing anyone’s safety.”
The 38-year-old record executive noted it was likely not Swift’s intention to bring his family in harm’s way with her comments, but felt she needed to understand the magnitude of her influence. “It is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways,” he wrote.
Braun added: “While disappointed that you have remained silent after being notified by your attorney 4 days ago of these ongoing threats, I’m still hopeful we can fix this.”
Braun’s message comes barely one week after Big Machine’s Nashville offices were forced to shut down following death threats to employees on October 15. There were also concerns of Swift’s fans leaking the personal contact information of those working at the label’s headquarters, according to an Entertainment Tonight report.
A post shared by Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) on Nov 22, 2019 at 12:09am PST
In addition to claiming Big Machine stopped her from performing a melody of her old songs at the AMAs, Swift said the label also blocked her from using her music for an upcoming Netflix documentary. Before ending her message, Swift called on fans to “let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this.”
“The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished,” Swift wrote. “This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans. So this is where I’m asking for your help.”
Big Machine denied Swift’s accusations in their own statement and said the 29-year-old singer’s comments were “based on false information.”
“At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere,” the statement read.
