Shortly after acquiring Big Machine Records and Taylor Swift's masters (much to the ire of the pop star), manager and producer Scooter Braun is making his next big move. According to Deadline, Braun's SB Projects has inked a deal with Amazon Studios to develop TV projects with the company, further establishing Braun's place as a media mogul.
Braun most famously manages stars like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, but has also gotten into the TV producing game in recent years. Braun's company is behind series Scorpion, which ran for four seasons on CBS. It also produced Justin Bieber film Never Say Never, which, according to SB Projects' official website, is the number one grossing concert film in U.S. history. Next up, SB Projects has an untitled series with Lil Dicky at FX, an untitled K-Pop film, and the movie Taste of Power starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, in the works.
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Braun, who recently signed Demi Lovato, was called out by Swift on social media for being a "manipulative bully" earlier this month after he acquired her masters via his deal with Big Machine.
"When I left my masters in [Big Machine Records founder] Scott [Borchetta]’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter," Swift wrote in her Tumblr post. "Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever."
Not long after Swift's post, Bieber stood up for his manager on Instagram.
"Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you! As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations," Bieber wrote. "So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on Scooter isn’t fair."
Swift is appearing in Amazon's Prime Day concert mere hours after Braun's deal with Amazon — which reportedly was closed "a few months" earlier — hit Deadline.