Taylor Swift’s attorney has insisted she was not given the "opportunity" to buy back her master recordings or purchase Big Machine Records.
The ‘Shake It Off’ hitmaker herself posted a lengthy statement after she found out Scooter Braun had purchased the record label – which she was signed to from 2005 to 2018 – from Scott Borchetta over the weekend for a reported $300 million, and with it acquired the ‘ME!’ hitmaker’s back catalogue of master recordings.
The 29-year-old pop star – who has previously accused Scooter of "bullying" her – said she felt "grossed out" by the business deal, and insisted she never got a chance to buy back her assets.
Former Big Machine Records boss Scott disputed Taylor’s account and insisted she was offered a new record deal which would have given her back all her "assets", including the master recordings and implied she knew about the deal before it was announced, something which the ‘Bad Blood’ hitmaker’s representative later insisted wasn’t the case.
However, her lawyer Donald Passman has told PEOPLE.com: "Scott Borchetta never gave Taylor Swift an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a check in the way he is now apparently doing for others."
Since posting her statement – which detailed the deal as her "worst case scenario" – several stars have come to the defence of both Taylor and Scooter with public statements, but Scooter himself has remained silent, with sources now saying he’ll only discuss the matter in private with the ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ singer.
An insider said: "Scooter is open to having a private conversation with Taylor to clear up everything that went down. He reposted some messages of support on his Instagram Stories, but he has no intention of releasing a formal statement and blowing up the situation even more than it already has been. This is between Scooter and Taylor, not the world."
So far, the likes of Taylor’s ‘ME!’ collaborator Brendon Urie, Halsey, and Cara Delevingne have publicly shared messages of support for Taylor, whilst Nicki Minaj, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna, Lana Del Rey, Selena Gomez and Camila Cabello have all reportedly stopped following Scooter on social media since the row broke out.
Ariana Grande originally posted a message of support for Scooter – who is her manager – on her Instagram Story, but later deleted the post, while another of Scooter’s artists, Justin Bieber, has publicly defended him.
Taylor Swift’s lawyer insists she wasn’t given chance to buy music outright
