Taylor Swift had some choice words for Scooter Braun during her big moment when she was accepting the award for Woman of the Decade at the Billboard Women in Music event in Los Angeles.
Swift (who turns 30 tomorrow), spoke about the ‘unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying our music as if it’s real estate—as if it’s an app or a shoe line.’
She went on to call out the business man more directly saying: ‘This just happened to me without my approval, consultation, or consent. After I was denied the chance to purchase my music outright, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in a deal that I’m told was funded by the Soros family, 23 Capital, and that Carlyle Group.’
Woman of the golden decade: Taylor Swift (who turns 30 tomorrow) stunned as she posed on the red carpet at the Billboard Women in Music event on Thursday evening where she called out Scooter Braun for purchasing her entire catalog of music without her consent
She continued: ‘Yet, to this day, none of these investors have bothered to contact me or my team directly, to perform their due diligence on their investment,’ Taylor said. ‘On their investment in me. To ask how I might feel about the new owner of my art, the music I wrote, the videos I created, photos of me, my handwriting, my album designs.’
‘And of course, Scooter never contacted me or my team to discuss it prior to the sale or even when it was announced. I’m fairly certain he knew exactly how I would feel about it, though, and let me just say that the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying ‘but he’s always been nice to me’ when I’m raising valid concerns about artists and their right to own their music. And of course he’s nice to you.’
‘If you’re in this room, you have something he needs. The fact is that private equity enabled this man to think, according to his own social media post, that he could ‘buy me.’ But I’m obviously not going willingly. Yet the most amazing thing was to discover that it would be the women in our industry who would have my back and show me the most vocal support at one of the most difficult times, and I will never, ever forget it. Like, ever.’
Power moves: The songwriter showed off her stunning attire for the evening in a navy jumpsuit with gold chain detailing
The star went on to challenge the audience to ‘stand as an example for someone else in the next generation that loves the same thing that we love.’
‘No matter what else enters the conversation we will always bring it back to music. As for me, lately I’ve been focusing less on what they say I can’t do and more on doing whatever the hell I want.’
The audience later gave Swift a standing ovation for her powerful words.
Fearless leader: For her speech, Taylor opened up about her journey through this decade while touching on streaming rights and the Scooter Braun scandal
And while she is no doubt the woman of the decade after numerous sold out tours (including stadiums), chart topping albums, and the heart for standing up for artists to back it all up.
The Christmas Tree Farm singer stunned as she posed on the red carpet ahead of her speech looking like she came straight out of a love story in a navy jumpsuit with gold chains for her shoulder straps.
Not a hair was out of place as she rocked a braided pony tail and that red lip classic that has been just as iconic as her music.
She made sure to also bring a little holiday spirit to her look with green and red painted finger nails and toenails to brighten up the sophisticated attire.
The Grammy winning artist was just 16 years old when she first got her claim to fame with her self-titled debut album. And now she holds a slew of awards such as 23 Billboard Music Awards, 12 Country Music Association Awards, and 10 Grammys to name a few.
Stylish: No hair was out of place for this subtle braided look
Jameela Jamil, 33, had the honor of presenting the iconic award to Taylor who had some heartfelt words to share to the audience of Taylor’s wild accomplishments.
As she accepted her award, The Man singer had some wise words to share with the audience before diving into the hard-hitting facts.
‘So what does it mean to be the woman of this decade? Well, it means I have seen a lot. When this decade began I was 20 years old. And I had put out my self-titled debut album with I was 16. And then, the album that would become my breakthrough album was called, Fearless. And I saw that there was a world of music and experience beyond country music that I was really curious about,’ she began in her acceptance speech.
She then went on to touch about the ‘wave of harsh criticism’ that she had received quoting an old headline that called it a ‘Swift Backlash.’
‘And now I realize, that this is just what happens to a woman in music if she achieves success or power beyond people’s comfort level.’
Alpha types: Taylor and Cyndi Lauper pose together at the event. Cyndi rocked a mohawk and some yellow hair for the occasion
Iconic women: The two shared a laugh while getting ready to pose for the remainder of their photos
Like daylight: Taylor beamed with happiness while walking the pink carpet inside the event where she spoke about ‘unregulated world of private equity’ and the harm it has caused her
Fearless: The star also talked about the ‘wave of harsh criticism’ that she has received over the years before saying she turns her head to criticism now and does whatever she wants
During her speech, she also called out some other trailblazers who she admires in music including Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, Lana Del Rey, Camila Cabello, and more.
The songwriter is in good company tonight as other big names in music will be honored this evening such as Billie Eilish who is woman of the year, Alanis Morissette, Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, and Rosalia.
Alicia is also being honored with the Impact award and Brandi is set to receive the Trailblazer award.
The presenter: Jameela Jamil presented Taylor with her award for the evening and even held it for her while she gave her speech
Back in November, Scooter broke his silence during a Q&A moderated by Variety where he briefly spoke about the ongoing drama.
‘I just think we live in a time with toxic division and people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out on each other and not have conversations.’
And while he didn’t mention her by name, he went on to explain his ideal situation on putting this all behind them.
‘What I’ll say is, people need to communicate and when people are able to communicate I think they work things out. I think a lot of times things are miscommunicated, but I believe that people are fundamentally good.’
Women supporting women: Jameela stood there to support her speech as Taylor gave an empowering speech about women in the industry
Her references: Swifties were able to catch the song and lyric references she made throughout her speech
Iconic women: The Woman of the Decade meets the Woman of the Year Billie Eilish while inside at the event
Powerful: The most powerful woman in music posed together for a photo during the event celebration
Good friends: Jason Lipshutz and Taylor Swift smile together at the event as Taylor walked around and mingled with guests
Bad guy: Billie knows how to make an entrance as she donned a brown Prada jacket and long green nails
Siblings: Billie and her brother Finneas O’Connell pose together on the carpet ahead of the ceremony
