Taylor Swift is far from Scooter Braun’s only enemy. As a new investigation by Insider meticulously laid out, the megamanager has bad blood with artists from Ye (formerly Kanye West) to Todrick Hall. Also on that list is Lil Twist, a rapper who was friends with Braun’s star client, Justin Bieber, during his chaotic mid-2010s. Twist told Insider that Braun planted negative coverage of him during that time “to protect Justin.†The outlet independently cited stories like a 2013 TMZ report on Bieber’s weed smoking, which claimed “Bieb’s people are blaming his Black friend Lil Twist for his bad behavior.†(The story also referenced Braun’s past success at swaying TMZ founder Harvey Levin to not publish video of Bieber using the N-word.) “He did his job, but he did it wrong, in ways of hurting other people to get things done,†Twist told Insider.
Braun’s response? His attorney, the litigious Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer, sent 13 negative stories about Twist when asked about the allegation, Insider reported, calling the rapper a “demonstrably unreliable source.†Okay! Elsewhere in the story, anonymous sources spoke about Braun’s work and reputation in Hollywood. “He personifies hypocrisy at the highest level,†one source said, in reference to the nice-guy image the manager tries to cultivate. A person who worked with Braun added, “People with the most severe addiction problem will never understand just how absurdly powerful an addiction to fame and power is. It’s the single most wicked, evil, and disastrous addiction you can think of.†And one source specifically had thoughts on the Kid Laroi leaving Braun’s management last year: “It’s embarrassing. You don’t lose Kid Laroi.â€