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Braun addressed the rumors while also giving Swift and her fans props for the "marketing strategy" behind them.
Scooter Braun is shutting down swirling fan theories that Taylor Swift's biting 2022 track "Vigilante S--t" was inspired by his divorce from Yael Cohen.
On the Thursday, July 17 episode of the Question Everything podcast Braun addressed the speculation head-on. "No, 'cause I talk to Yael every day," he said bluntly. "My ex-wife is one of my best friends. So, me and my ex-wife laugh about that stuff. We don't even call each other 'ex.' That's, like, my partner. [She's] the mother of my children [and] that is my family for life."
He continued, "I have a tattoo on my finger that says 'same team' after my divorce because she and I are [on the] same team for life. It's what we say to each other. So, no, I never thought that it was about us, [and] she never thought it was about us."
Braun filed for divorce from Cohen in July 2021 after seven years of marriage. The split was finalized in September 2022. The former couple shares three children and per TMZ, agreed to joint custody and a division of assets, with Braun ordered to pay child support.
While Braun shut down the rumors, he was able to acknowledge the marketing genius behind Swiftie speculation, joking, "It's a great strategy move."
The single appears on Swift's Grammy-winning Midnights album and includes pointed lyrics many fans interpreted as a direct shot at Braun.
"She needed cold, hard proof, so I gavе her some / She had thе envelope, where you think she got it from?" Swift sings. "Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride / Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife / And she looks so pretty / Drivin' in your Benz / Lately, she's been dressin' for revenge."
While Swift has never confirmed who the track is about, speculation was immediate, especially given her long-standing feud with Braun after the music executive bought Swift's masters from Big Machine Records in 2019 via his company Ithaca Holdings, prompting outrage and a re-recording crusade that would ultimately put Swift back on top.
Braun later went on to sell the catalog to Shamrock Capital for a reported $300 million in 2020, with Swift ultimately buying the masters of her first six albums back earlier this year.
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In a May letter shared on her website, Swift celebrated buying back the masters, writing: "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. To my fans, you know how important this has been to me -- so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them 'Taylor's Version.'"
She added, "The passionate support you showed these albums and the success story you turned The Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music. I can't thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now."
