Taylor Swift says ‘tyrannical’ record label bosses have blocked her from playing old hits
Singer also accused Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta of halting work on a Netflix documentary about her life
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Your support makes all the difference.Taylor Swift says talent manager Scooter Braun is stopping her from performing a medley of old songs at an upcoming awards show.
The singer, who said she was “sad and grossed out” after Braun and Scott Borchetta’s company acquired six of her previous albums in a deal worth a reported $300m earlier this year, released a passionate statement on Twitter.
“I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the American Music Awards,” she wrote, adding that Braun and Borchetta “said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.”
She also accused the pair of preventing her from using old performance footage in a documentary that Netflix is creating about her life.
Swift wondered whether the other artists the pair manage, including Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber, “can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote.”
She urged her fans to let Braun and Borchetta – the founder of her former record label – how they feel about their decision, and the hashtag #IStandWithTaylor is now trending around the world on Twitter.
A fan petition, which you can see here, has now amassed more than 50,000 signatures.
Stars including Halsey, Gigi Hadid and Tinashe have also come to the singer’s defence.
Halsey wrote on Instagram: “These people are protected because they inspire complicity with fear. Banking on the illusion that people will not stand up for her. That the world will say she is over reacting, You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
Braun and Borchetta are yet to respond to the allegations.
Swift is being honoured with the Artist of the Decade trophy at the AMAs, which take place on 24 November.
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