Elizabeth Warren has also come to Swift’s defence
Taylor Swift has received a message of support from US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the singer’s public battle against Big Machine, who she claims have blocked her from using and performing her own songs.
Ocasio-Cortez – often referred to as ‘AOC’ – retweeted Swift’s original statement and added her own thoughts on how the case demonstrates a wider problem in America. “Private equity groups’ predatory practices actively hurt millions of Americans,” she said.
“Now they’re holding [Taylor Swift’s] own music hostage.” See the full tweet below.
Private equity groups’ predatory practices actively hurt millions of Americans.
Their leveraged buyouts have destroyed the lives of retail workers across the country, scrapping 1+ million jobs. Now they’re holding @taylorswift13’s own music hostage.
They need to be reigned in. https://t.co/mSVeH718Hn
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 15, 2019
Swift is embroiled in a rights row with Big Machine label boss Scott Borchetta as well as artist manager Scooter Braun who purchased her back catalogue from the label earlier this year. She claims they have blocked her from performing older material at the upcoming AMA Awards and from using songs in a new Netflix documentary – but the business partners have since denied this.
Elizabeth Warren, who is currently competing to become the Democratic nominee in the upcoming US election in 2020, also added her thoughts on the situation yesterday (November 16), stating that Swift is “one of many whose work has been threatened by a private equity firm.”
Unfortunately, @TaylorSwift13 is one of many whose work has been threatened by a private equity firm. They’re gobbling up more and more of our economy, costing jobs and crushing entire industries. It’s time to rein in private equity firms—and I’ve got a plan for that. https://t.co/r2UD4CT1Ba
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 16, 2019
The ‘Lover’ singer has already received a groundswell of support from a number of high-profile musicians and celebrities, including Lily Allen, Selena Gomez, and Halsey.
On Friday (November 15) Swift responded to her ex-record label’s denial of her allegations that they are preventing her from performing her old songs.
“Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them but, an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years,” the statement from her team concluded.
