Scooter Braun gets hate for complimenting Justin Bieber's new album, 'Swag,' days after financial settlement between pair was finalized

Justin Bieber fans condemned his former manager Scott “Scooter” Braun for sharing high praise for Bieber’s newest album, Swag, on Saturday, one day after the album dropped.

“This is, without a doubt, the most authentically Justin Bieber album to date. It’s beautiful, raw and truly him,” Braun wrote in an Instagram Story on July 12, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "Along every journey, there comes a time when an artist fully steps into their own — and that’s what he’s done here. He poured his soul into this project, and you can feel it in every single run.”

But Braun’s endorsement of the album prompted skepticism from many Bieber fans, who, according to several online posts, thought the post read “more like Scooter gloating than giving genuine praise” or like he was looking for “a way to involve” himself in Bieber’s first solo album since their partnership ended in 2023. Bieber, 31, and Braun, 44, had worked together for more than 15 years after Braun signed Bieber to his label, SB Projects, in 2008.

After Braun posted his review, Bieber’s wife, Hailey, posted an Instagram Story, where she used a filter to exaggerate her side-eye selfie with Mariah Carey’s song “Obsessed” playing in the background. While it’s not clear whether it was in response to Braun, many fans speculated that it was a jab at the former manager and his review.

Swag dropped last Friday, the day after TMZ first reported Bieber and Braun had reached a settlement in a multimillion-dollar financial dispute. Bieber agreed to pay $26 million that was owed to Braun after the artist canceled his 2022 Justice tour, and an additional $5.5 million, which would cover half of the unpaid commissions he also owed Braun.

The legal settlement, followed by Braun’s praise for Bieber’s album, are just the latest developments in the pair’s long, public history dating back to the late 2000s. Here’s how we got here.

2007: Braun discovers Bieber on YouTube

Braun launched his company, SB Projects, in 2007 with the goal of hiring specific types of performers, according to Billboard, including a young kid who “could do it like Michael Jackson.” Braun has said he was scrolling through YouTube when he came across a video of Bieber singing Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” He reached out to Bieber’s mom, Pattie Mallette, and talked her into flying to Atlanta to meet with him.

2008: Bieber signs to Usher and Braun’s label

After multiple auditions and meetings, Bieber was signed to Usher and Braun’s label, Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG Records).

2012: Bieber gets more involved in Braun’s business

After he turned 18, Bieber became more involved with Braun on the business side and helped him promote other artists who were signed to SB Projects. Bieber is credited with helping launch the careers of performers like Madison Beer, Carly Rae Jepsen, the Wanted and Cody Simpson, who were all signed with Braun, according to Rolling Stone.

2013-14: Bieber’s public image starts to tank

During this period, Bieber was involved in multiple scandals that Braun personally addressed to the press and on his X account. For example, after Bieber wrote in the guestbook at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam that he hoped Frank “would have been a belieber,” Braun, whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, slammed the negative press coverage as “atrocious and insulting.”

In early 2014, Bieber’s mug shot went viral after he was arrested in Miami on charges of driving under the influence with an expired license and resisting arrest. Braun responded to the news on X, tagged Bieber, and wrote: “Love you and I will act in the manner of someone who truly cares. That is all I have to say. Thanks for all those concerned.” Later that month, Bieber was arrested on an assault charge in Canada after allegedly hitting a limo driver in the head. Braun addressed the news on X again, writing: “i ask people to be kind and hope for the best in people. not assume the worst. thanks.”

2016: Braun threatens to quit over $5M performance offer

After the success of Bieber’s album Purpose, he was reportedly offered $5 million to perform at an event that was associated with the Republican National Convention. Braun threatened to quit if Bieber performed, even though organizers said the event was “not political,” Business Insider reported. Bieber declined to perform and later canceled the rest of his Purpose tour.

2020: Bieber publicly thanks Braun for his help over the years

At a listening party for the album Changes in January 2020, Bieber thanked Braun in an emotional speech.

“You walked me through a lot of s***,” Bieber said.

2023: The relationship starts to fall apart

News outlets began reporting in the summer of 2023 that Bieber’s wife, Hailey, had taken over the business side of his career, leading the singer to replace several members of his management team. Though Braun’s contract with Bieber reportedly remained intact at that point, multiple sources told Puck News that the pair were “headed separate ways.”

Around the same time, a number of SB clients, including Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel and Ariana Grande announced they had left Braun’s company.

2024: Braun announces his retirement, calls contributing to Bieber’s success an ‘honor’

In June 2024, Braun announced he was retiring from management and would be transitioning fully into his other role as CEO of HYBE America, a South Korean entertainment company. (Braun has since stepped down from that position.) In an Instagram post announcing his retirement, Braun described Bieber’s success as “one of my greatest honors.”

2025: Braun says their relationship is ‘not the same as it was’

Fans noticed immediately when Bieber unfollowed Braun on Instagram in January of 2025. Then in May it was reported that Bieber owed Braun millions of dollars over canceled tours, while TMZ reported that Bieber’s new manager had “started digging into the books and concluded [Braun] was grossly overpaid in commissions by $26 million.”

As a guest on the Diary of a CEO podcast in June, Braun described his and Bieber’s current relationship as “not the same as it was.” A month after Braun’s podcast interview, he and Bieber reached their financial settlement. The next day, Bieber released Swag, his first album without Braun’s involvement.

“Breaking away from Scooter Braun and his team has been something that Justin has wanted for so long,” an unnamed source told Rolling Stone following the release of Swag. “This is the most pure version of Justin we’ve ever seen musically.”