Justin Bieber attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. © Dimitrios Kambouris

Justin Bieber breaks silence amid ongoing rumors of a split from manager Scooter Braun

Justin's reps have firmly denied the Boyfriend singer is no longer managed by Scooter

Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
Los Angeles correspondentLos Angeles
August 26, 2023

Justin Bieber has made a return to Instagram to share an adorable picture of him with his wife Hailey Bieber, and their three-year-old niece, the daughter of Hailey's sister, Alaia Baldwin. 

The pop star shared the sweet pic that showed model Hailey holding Iris in her arms as Justin placed an arm on the toddler's back and she laughed back at him. The pair both rocked the dressed-down casual look with Hailey in a white tee and oversized leather jacket, and Justin in a white tank top and unzipped black hooded jacket with a backwards baseball cap. 

He simply captioned the post with a kissing emoji, and didn't make any reference to the ongoing drama that began this week when rumors emerged he was looking to end his partnership with longtime manager Scooter Braun. Reps for Justin have insisted the claims are not true; Justin signed a new four-year deal in 2022. 

However, Scooter and his management company have continued to dominate headlines after HELLO! confirmed reports that  Demi Lovato had left the firm, and it was alleged that Ariana Grande had also left. 

Scooter found Justin when the singer was a 13-year-old posting songs online from his bedroom and turned him into the superstar he is today.  

© Micah Smith

Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun pose for a portrait on the set of the music video One Less Lonely Girl in 2009

In Scooter's years as an entertainment manager, and later forming SB Group, the 42-year-old has become a polarizing powerhouse, making himself the story as well as his clients, something that no other music managers have ever done; amid the increasing speculation, Scooter took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and broke his silence on the apparent exodus, writing: "Breaking news… I'm no longer managing myself." 

Scooter perhaps became most well known in 2019 when it emerged that he had purchased Big Machine Records – Taylor Swift's former record label – which would mean he would now own the masters to her first six albums. 

© Getty Images

Justin's reps denied he had split from Scooter

Scooter and Taylor already had a contentious history: Scooter managed Kanye in 2016 when the rapper released 'Famous,' a song that called Taylor a "bitch" and alleged he had made her famous. Later that year Justin also waded into the controversy when he shared a screengrab of a FaceTime call he was on with Scooter and Kanye, and wrote the caption: "Taylor Swift what up." 

Taylor had been trying to buy back the records from the group, owned by Scott Borchetta, but reportedly they asked her to make one new album for every album she wanted back. She refused, and moved on, only for Scooter's Ithaca Holdings to then buy the entire company, which she branded as "manipulative bullying".

© Hector Vivas/TAS23

Taylor is rerecording her first six albums

In response, the 33-year-old revealed she would be re-recording the first six albums because she owned the songwriting copyright and could therefore return to the studio and create new versions. 

Ithaca Holdings sold the entire catalog for $405 million to Shamrock in November 2020, however the Taylor's Version albums – three have been released so far – have raked in millions of dollars for Taylor.

Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S.  Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletterand get them delivered straight to your inbox. 

Sign up to HELLO! Daily for all the latest and best celebrity coverage

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More Celebrity News

See more