No one could have predicted the Justin Bieber–Scooter Braun breakup. At one point, it was the most prolific and financially symbiotic client-manager relationship in the music industry. Since discovering the fledging, barely teenage Canadian talent on YouTube in 2007, Braun meticulously molded Bieber’s heartthrob R&B image into an incredibly salable product ripe for Beliebers’ consumption the world over. Not satisfied to simply guide his star client into new orbits and successfully navigate some troubling years, Braun even fashioned himself into a household name, landing magazine profiles and gaining music-mogul status with his management company, SB Projects. Bieber, in turn, stood by his manager during two Taylor Swift battles — the icky discourse over the naked Swift body double in Ye’s “Famous” video and Braun’s controversial seizure of her masters.
After 15 years, their business relationship came to a shocking yet unceremonious end. Multiple outlets reported that Bieber and Braun’s partnership curdled in 2023. This month, Bieber released his latest album, Swag, without the input of Braun, now retired from management altogether, and critics lapped up the freewheeling nature of a record liberated from the desire to produce radio hits. Braun publicly congratulated Bieber on the record, though the rekindled support feels tenuous amid reports of Hailey Bieber’s distaste of the estranged manager and a looming $31 million bill.
Below, how Bieber and Braun’s business relationship ended — and where their friendship stands today.
August 2, 2016: Bieber exhibits some ride-or-die behavior for his business buddy Braun. In the controversy over Kanye West’s “Famous” music video — which features a naked double of Taylor Swift and lyrics about Ye manifesting sex with the pop giant — Bieber appears to side with the rapper, who was at the time Braun’s new client. With a screenshot of a FaceTime video posted on his Instagram account, the “One Less Lonely Girl” singer leaves his ex’s bestie and old friend without one of the most powerful Billboard chart-topping allies in a war that began when Ye infamously interrupted Swift’s 2013 VMAs acceptance speech: himself. Who else might be on the notorious call? Braun, who had expanded his SB Projects empire with the new client. “Taylor swift what up,” the Biebs captions the announcement of his alliance.
Mr. West and the entrepreneurial manager inked a deal around March 2016, sources confirmed at the time. Considering Bieber’s loyalty to Braun, it’s no surprise the singer is the latest Team Kanye convert, with the former on his best Christian behavior, posting about prayer with Yeezy and Braun that year.
September 28, 2017: Braun, trying to be decent, takes responsibility for his client. In an extensive WSJ Magazine profile, the calculating pop mogul looks back at Bieber’s highly public 2014 meltdown, saying the unfortunate events were “worse than people realized.” Braun admits, “I failed him day after day. We were living in hell because he was in such a dark place.” Arrested for involvement in a combination DUI–slash–illegal drag race, accused of drug use, and cleared from an attempted-robbery case in L.A. — on top of petty high-school-level antics, serious assault charges, and slurs — it was far from a chill year for the singer.
Braun claims he never considered dropping Bieber, despite associates urging him to do so. “People invested in Justin’s career told me, ‘It’s over. Focus on something else. That kid is done,’” he tells the magazine. But their relationship transcends business. “I made a promise to him when he was 13 that I would never give up on him. I plan on keeping that promise,” he says. “He’s family. I think the relationship is more like a big brother, especially because he’s become a man. I think he’s seen the worst of himself, and to watch him rise out of it was amazing.”
October 25, 2018: Braun confirms Biebs is not “a secret lizard person.”
June 30, 2019: Bieber remains on the Scooter following the manager’s industry-altering deal with Big Machine Records, which landed Braun a lucrative catalogue and a seizure of Taylor Swift’s masters. In response to Swift’s open letter expressing disappointment with the sale — which features a picture of Bieber’s disparaging 2016 Instagram post and accuses the music baron of “incessant, manipulative” bullying throughout her career — Bieber defends Braun in an open letter of his own. He directly addresses Swift’s charges in the caption of an Instagram post featuring a “Baby”-era Bieber and a bright-eyed Swift, apologizing for “that hurtful instagram post” and its “Taylor swift what up” caption. Braun, he claims, had nothing to do with it.
To Bieber, Swift’s letter is ill intentioned and has “crossed the line,” “defacing” Braun in the process. “Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you.!,” Bieber writes. “As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter.” The summer keeps getting crueler — for Swift, at least.
Bieber ends the long pro-Braun post by extending an olive branch to Swift. “I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or any feelings that need to be addressed,” he promises. “Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you.”
July 4, 2019: Bieber and his wife Hailey Baldwin spend the Fourth of July holiday with Braun days after the public scuffle with Swift, according to People.
October 15, 2019: Bieber says the Swift-Braun feud hasn’t affected his “homie” status with the former party. “We’ve always been cool. Other people’s drama is not my drama!” he tells paparazzi.
November 15, 2019: It’s a cryptic post, but it appears Bieber is going to bat for Braun once again. He shares a screenshot of a TMZ story about Swift being cleared to perform at the VMAs despite her statements that Big Machine kept her early hits hostage.
January 24, 2020: At a Los Angeles listening party for his new album, Bieber credits Braun with guiding him during tough times. “I feel like God’s brought me out of a really dark place,” he tells the crowd with a shaky voice, per “Page Six.” “You walked with me through a lot of shit,” he says, tearing up while addressing his manager and joking, “I need to get it together!”
April 2, 2021: Business with Braun is still big. Following the merger between BTS’s label HYBE and Braun’s Ithaca Holdings — parent company of SB Projects, whose client list boasts Bieber, Ariana Grande, and J Balvin — Bieber wins a $10 million windfall.
February 8, 2022: A Business Insider exposé into Braun’s empire details claims from rapper Lil Twist, who believes the manager frequently planted negative stories about him “to protect” Bieber. Insider cites a 2013 TMZ report on the singer’s weed use, which alleged, “Bieb’s people are blaming his Black friend Lil Twist for his bad behavior.” Speaking on the record, Twist discusses the harm in Braun’s maneuvers. “He did his job, but he did it wrong, in ways of hurting other people to get things done,” Twist tells Insider. The story also highlights Braun’s successful gambit in getting TMZ to not post video of Bieber using the N-word.
Sources also claim Braun had his talons stuck in Bieber and Selena Gomez’s relationship to the point where it “appalled” Gomez’s BFF, Swift. When the pair dated, sources tell Insider, Braun was a “quasi-parental figure” and “appeared to be enmeshed in nearly all aspects” of Bieber’s life and relationship with Gomez. Braun’s oversize role eventually created “bad blood between the two camps” and went as far as to leave Swift “appalled.” According to the site, the Braun-Bieber dynamic “was one of the reasons Swift went after Braun so hard” after he acquired her masters. Braun’s attorney calls the Swift-related claims “ridiculous” and adds Braun and Gomez have “a very good relationship.”
August 18, 2023: Who and who are going no contact? An earth-shattering report from Puck claims the Bieber and Braun family will not be staying together after 16 years as business bros. Apparently, the duo haven’t spoken in months, multiple sources tell the outlet. Due to Bieber’s ongoing contract, neither side can confirm the news while lawyers work out details of the split. Either way, it’s the end of an era. They’re done.
August 24, 2023: With Bieber under contract with SB Projects until 2027, the singer is reportedly trying to make it work with Braun to avoid more legal headaches, per Billboard. That same day, a source confirms to People that the pair aren’t really speaking. Braun might still manage Bieber, but his involvement has petered out. The manager has “not set up one session or done one thing for this [new] record,” the source says. “The relationship with Scooter has run its course.”
June 17, 2024: Following a mass exodus of star clients last year — including Ariana Grande, J Balvin, Demi Lovato, and Idina Menzel — Braun is scooting away from management. He tells Billboard he has been thinking about leaving the gig for years to focus on his children after his “personal life took some hits.” (He and Yael Cohen divorced in 2021.)
“It wasn’t until last summer that this new chapter became a reality,” Braun says. “One of my biggest clients and friends told me that they wanted to spread their wings and go in a new direction. We had been through so much together over the last decade, but instead of being hurt I saw it as a sign.” He’s likely referring to Grande, whom he managed for a decade beginning in 2013. She reportedly let him go over the handling (or lack thereof) of her divorce and a snub that occurred while he took a holiday. A full paragraph honored his work with Bieber and Grande. “There will never be a day where I don’t take great pride and honor in what we accomplished together.”
July 10, 2025: Justin Bieber is about to release his latest album, Swag, but all TMZ can talk about is the $31.5 million settlement he reached with HYBE, his estranged manager’s sort-of company. After a two-year financial battle amid their shocking breakup, Bieber reportedly agreed to repay $26 million for the canceled Justice tour’s advance, together with $5.5 million in unpaid commissions (half of the total $11 million owed). Braun waived $8 million in other commissions.
July 12, 2025: Did God bring the family back together? Braun praises Bieber’s latest record on Instagram Stories after years of reports on their rocky relationship. “This is, without a doubt, the most authentically Justin Bieber album to date. It’s beautiful, raw, and truly him. And that matters,” he writes. “I’ve had the privilege of witnessing his growth for almost two decades. Along every journey, there comes a time when an artist fully steps into their own — and that’s what he’s done here. He poured his soul into this project, and you can feel it in every single run.”
One person who’s not thrilled about a potential reconciliation: Hailey Bieber, who appears to think Braun is a little too fixated on her husband. The Rhode skin-care founder posts a selfie on Instagram Stories using a filter that cartoonishly magnifies her side-eye, potentially directed at Braun’s praise. The Mariah Carey jam “Obsessed” soundtracks the Story.
July 17, 2025: Perhaps Hailey has reason to be a little shady toward Braun, who took them to HYBE in the first place? Sources tell TMZ about a key provision in the Bieber-HYBE settlement: The $31 million payment will be held up until the sale of Rhode to e.l.f. is closed and fully funded. According to the report, Bieber doesn’t have the cash money to repay Braun until he gets his share of the $1 billion Rhode deal (sources say he could land around $50 million as an investor). As for Bieber’s other business affairs? The $200 million sale of his catalogue wasn’t a cash cow after expenses. Enter Hailey, the Biebers’ new business daddy.
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A timeline of the business bros’ wholehearted, then nonexistent, and now tenuous friendship.
