The Nashville-based office closed its doors just after noon on Friday following “hostile death threats” that made staff feel unsafe, a source told Entertainment Tonight.
It’s only the latest drama between Big Machine and 29-year-old Swift, who recently alleged her former label is preventing her from playing her older songs at the American Music Awards later this month, where she is being honored as artist of the decade.
In a social media post on Thursday, Swift took direct aim at Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, who own the music rights to her first six albums.
“Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now 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 wrote, adding that the pair are also preventing her from using songs and performance footage in an upcoming Netflix documentary.
The pop superstar earlier this year blasted Braun as a bully after he acquired Borcehtta’s Big Machine Records, a hefty purchase that includes the masters to all of Swift’s music outside of her most recent “Lover” album. The songstress subsequently announced that she would re-record her first albums as soon as she is allowed to in November 2020.According to Swift, Borchetta said he would only allow the use of her old tunes during the AMA medley if she stopped speaking about them in public and vowed to never record copy-cat versions of her music.
“This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans. So this is where I’m asking for your help,” Swift tweeted on Thursday.
The label lashed out Friday in response to her claim that Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun are blocking her from singing her earlier hits at the American Music Awards.
"As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her Tumblr statements yesterday based on false information," the label posted on its website. "At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere."
Billboard reports within hours after Taylor Swift took to social media to put Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta on blast for supposedly not allowing her access to her older music for an upcoming American Music Awards performance and a Netflix special, tens of thousands of fans have rallied in her support.
A Change.org petition started by fan Jade Rossi has gathered 35,000+ signatures in just three hours, calling on Braun, Borchetta and investment firm The Carlyle Group to stop holding Swift’s art hostage.
In the petition, Rossi calls out sexism, the misuse of power and hints at “blackmail”.
Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren came to the defense of Swift:
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
Warren tweeted that Swift’s work was being “threatened by a private equity firm,” adding that she has a plan to address this very issue.
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