Scooter Braun claims that the criticism over his feud with Taylor Swift, the public fallout of his relationship with long-time client Justin Bieber, and the end of his marriage all came to a head, leaving him fearing the worst in his life.
During a candid episode of his podcast, "The Diary of a CEO," the 43-year-old record producer discussed reaching a crisis point in 2020. He revealed he had suicidal thoughts.
"I was going through a tumultuous time," Braun said. "My marriage was falling apart. I wasn't going to be with my kids all the time. I couldn't control this."
The powerhouse manager who built the careers of Bieber and Ariana Grande said he had fought to sustain the image of perfection he had crafted over the decades. "If I can't be this perfect image," he said, "I don't want to be here."
Braun said he didn't actually want to kill himself, but the alarming thoughts terrified him. "That's not me. I would never leave my kids. I don't wanna leave anybody."
Taylor Dispute
Braun, at the time, had just completed a $300 million deal to buy Big Machine Label Group, the home of Swift's first six albums. Swift blasted the agreement, claiming Braun had controlled her career and that bullying had been sanctioned, particularly in the wake of his connections to Kanye West and Justin Bieber.
Braun said he anticipated having a business partnership with Swift but was not prepared for her response. He said the scene went from friendly to hostile after he had once considered her a friend.
"I think she had issues with people I was affiliated with—Kanye, Justin," Braun said. "And I think there was a lot of hurt there."
The drama also reportedly strained his relationship with Bieber, his most high-profile client. Braun did not explicitly refer to Bieber in the interview, but he did mention multiple professional and personal changes that occurred within the time frame of their previous conflict.
The adverse reaction, he said, caused him to doubt everything, all the more so as his private life unraveled offstage. He divorced philanthropist Yael Cohen shortly afterward, and the couple officially finalized their divorce in 2022. They have three children.
A friend eventually persuaded Braun to enroll in The Hoffman Process. This weeklong therapeutic retreat demanded he surrender his phone and confront decades-old trauma and lifelong patterns of behavior.
The experience, he said, saved him. "I ended up going through a divorce. I ended up going through all this different stuff—but I never was depressed again," he shared.
Despite the aftermath and public scrutiny, Braun said he no longer identifies himself by his success in the industry.
"I had to find out who I actually was."
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