Before Ariana Grande left Scooter Braun’s company, the former business partners allegedly had a rocky relationship.
After rising to fame as a former child star, Ariana Grande used her incredible singing skills and charisma to become an extremely popular pop star. Thanks to her years as one of the biggest stars in the music business, Grande has amassed the kind of fortune that allows her to have a fantastic lifestyle.
Given all the success that Grande has enjoyed, it may seem surprising that she has decided to leave her longtime manager Scooter Braun. However, once fans learn more about Grande and Braun’s rocky relationship, her decision starts to make a lot more sense.
How Many Clients Has Scooter Braun Lost?
During Scooter Braun’s career in the entertainment industry, he has arguably become as famous as any manager in history. In some cases, Braun has garnered attention for having a close relationship with his clients including Justin Bieber. Unfortunately for Braun, however, he has also become famous for his feud with Taylor Swift.
In 2023, Braun yet again found himself the target of negative press for a reason that had nothing to do with Swift this time. At that time, there was a slew of headlines about Braun as a surprisingly long list of his clients ended their relationship with him.
In August 2023, the Associated Press published an article looking at the artists who were no longer working with Braun. According to that report, it was rumored that the client Braun who is most closely associated with, Justin Bieber, was leaving him.
More importantly, the Associated Press reported that several celebrities had already ended their professional relationships with Braun. “Representatives for Carly Rae Jepsen, BabyJake, and Asher Roth confirmed to AP that those artists no longer work with Braun and haven’t for quite some time.”
According to a Vulture article from August 2023, several other artists had also cut ties with Braun. That list of artists included Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel, J Balvin, and Ariana Grande.
Did Ariana Grande Get Along With Scooter Braun?
When Ariana Grande and Scooter Braun began working together, it was a pivotal time in her career. In 2013, Grande released her wildly successful album “Yours Truly” and she began starring in the relatively short-lived show Sam & Cat.
Braun also played a notable part in arguably the most meaningful thing that Grande has done during her career. After one of Grande’s performances at Manchester Arena was targeted for an attack, Braun helped her put together a benefit concert to aid victims and their families.
Despite what they accomplished together, Billboard broke the news that Ariana Grande parted ways with Scooter Braun in August 2023. The same day, it was reported that Demi Lovato also ended her working relationship with Braun.
At the time of Billboard’s report, the publication reached out to both camps for comment. Unsurprisingly, neither Grande nor Braun commented on the report at the time and nobody close to the two celebrities discussed the situation on the record.
Even after it was reported that Grande and Braun were through, most of the headlines at the time focused on the fact that Braun was losing so many high-profile clients. While it makes sense that observers were fascinated that Braun was losing so many clients, that resulted in some facts flying under the radar.
Since Grande was one of many clients that was through with Braun, little attention was paid to their lengthy history. As a result, many observers don’t realize that long before Grande and Braun stopped working together, their relationship had already gone through rocky times.
According to a previous Billboard report from September 2016, Grande cut ties with Braun in February of that same year. Grande reportedly trusted her career to herself and two other people in her life at that time.
“The two had parted ways professionally in February, with the singer, her mother Joan and Untitled Entertainment’s Stephanie Simon taking the reins on management.” At the time of Billboard’s September 2016 report, Grande had rethought her decision from earlier in the year.
“Ariana Grande and manager Scooter Braun have reunited officially, Grande’s label, Republic Records, confirms to Billboard, with Braun returning as the pop star’s main manager handling all aspects of her career.”
In August 2023, Vulture followed up on Billboard’s 2016 reporting. That Vulture report claimed that Grande actually fired Braun several more times between 2016 and 2023. “She has also reportedly fired and rehired Braun multiple times, not just the instance that was previously reported in 2016.”
According to a reporter for the website Puck named Matthew Belloni, Grande and Braun’s professional relationship was tested again not long before they stopped working together in 2023. The reason things started to go awry at the time is Grande reportedly felt abandoned by Braun during a time of need.
After Grande married Dalton Gomez in 2021, it was reported in July 2023 that the couple were separated and heading for divorce. Only days after observers found out about the pending divorce, it was reported that Grande had already moved on with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater. After that news broke, Slater filed for divorce from Lily Jay, his former high school sweetheart and the mother of his son.
Based on the news of the divorce and Grande moving on, she became embroiled in a lot of rumors and headlines. According to reports, Grande’s team reached out to Braun for support and guidance through the drama, but he was on vacation and refused to get involved.
According to Puck’s writer, Grande expected Braun to cut his vacation short to help her weather the storm. Braun reportedly replied to that request by stating “I deserve a vacation”. That response has been seen as evidence by some that Braun no longer prioritized his clients like Grande the way that he once did.
