Look back at Scooter Braun’s controversial career – | Music News

Scooter Braun has stepped down as CEO of HYBE America, ending his day-to-day management function at the company behind BTS’s U.S. enlargement.

Though the transfer was framed as half of a deliberate restructuring, it comes after years of public controversy, career-altering backlash, and a long record of high-profile artist exits. As Braun transitions into a senior advisory place, his full file as one of the music industry’s most polarizing figures is being reexamined.

Braun’s rise started in the mid-2000s when he found a younger Justin Bieber on YouTube. The partnership turned both into international names and launched Braun’s management company, SB Projects.

Over the next decade, he constructed a powerhouse roster including Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Kanye West, and J Balvin. But behind the scenes, Braun’s aggressive business ways and tight control of his shoppers started drawing criticism.

The most public and memorable controversy got here in June 2019, when Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Big Machine Label Group. That $300 million deal included the grasp recordings of Taylor Swift’s first six albums. Swift, who stated she was not knowledgeable of the deal before it closed, accused Braun of years of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and wrote, “My musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

Meanwhile, Braun’s relationships with different artists started to unravel. J Balvin left SB Projects in 2022. Lovato and Grande adopted in 2023.

Media retailers reported that a number of shoppers felt uncared for or pushed apart as Braun’s focus shifted to company ventures, including the 2021 merger of Ithaca Holdings with HYBE, the South Korean leisure company behind BTS. That $1 billion deal made Braun CEO of HYBE America and a main participant in Ok-pop’s international enlargement.

Even that function was met with resistance from the music neighborhood. Some BTS followers have been cautious of Braun’s involvement, citing the Swift dispute and his repute for controlling artists. When information broke on July 1, 2025, that Braun was stepping down, BTS had coincidentally just hosted a long-awaited full-group livestream. Many followers celebrated both occasions online, seeing them as symbolic bookends to Braun’s affect.

In his resignation letter, Braun downplayed the timing, writing, “This move has been in the works for over a year now. I’m proud of what we built and I’m excited for what’s next.” HYBE confirmed he’ll stay on the board and proceed to advise artists and executives in a non-operational function.

The announcement also adopted a troublesome personal stretch for Braun. He finalized his divorce in 2022 and later admitted to struggling with depression and suicidal ideas in the wake of the Swift fallout and intense media scrutiny. “I had to get help,” he admitted in 2024. “I was burnt out.”