Taylor Swift Subtly Shades Braun with Surprise Songs on His Birthday

On Tuesday, Taylor Swift hit the stage at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and gave her regular three-hour set, which included two surprise songs that immediately connected the Swifties to Braun, 43. As she reached the guitar set, fans were treated to another mashup: “I Forgot That You Existed” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.”

Swift began with the first song from 2019’s “Lover,” her first album for which she owned the masters. She then effortlessly transitioned to the second song from 2017’s “Reputation,” her legendary revenge album. Both tracks feature ideas of “shady” people whom she no longer has time for as she moves on in her life.

Fans may draw parallels between Swift’s music and her connection with Braun, who bought her former label, Big Machine, for $300 million.

Fans who have been with Swift since the beginning quickly linked Braun’s June 18th birthday to a mashup of two of her most pointed diss recordings, calling the decision to combine the two songs anything but fortuitous.

In a video released on X (previously Twitter), the singer can be seen strumming along to “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” but struggles to deliver the lyric, “And here’s to you ’cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do…”. Hahaha, I can’t even say a straight face.”

Swift’s followers reacted to the “hilarious”  mix by not so quietly calling out Braun — persona non grata among the Swifties — and sarcastically wishing the music entrepreneur, who announced his retirement from music management earlier this week, a good birthday. Braun’s retirement follows the departure of several A-list clients, including Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato. 

“I forgot you existed, x. Why can’t we do lovely things for Scooter Braun’s birthday?”#CardiffTSTheErasTour,” remarked one fan on Twitter.

“It’s scooter braun’s BIRTHDAY and she plays i forgot that you existed/this is why we can’t have nice things HAHAHA,” a different Swiftie wrote.

In a tweet announcing the surprise songs, a third fan of the “Karma” singer commented, “And on Scooter Braun’s birthday of all days, we do not give her enough credit for being the comedian she is.”

Swift hinted at re-releasing her first six albums on CBS Sunday Morning in August 2019, prompting the mashup five years later. A few days later, she revealed on Good Morning America that she will return to the studio to properly own her work.

“I’m quite pleased about it since my contract states that starting in November 2020, I may record albums one through five all over again. I’m quite excited about it. I simply believe that artists deserve to own their own work. “I feel very passionate about that,” she told anchor Robin Roberts.

Swift stated that her team attempted to negotiate with Braun for her master’s degree, but he required her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before reviewing financial records.

In 2021, Braun, known for his work with Idina Menzel and Justin Bieber, contested Swift’s claims. He told Variety that while he laments the situation, there were some factual inaccuracies in how the narrative was viewed.

“I regret Taylor’s reaction to the deal. It makes me sad.” “Everything that has happened has been very confusing and not based on any facts,” Braun told the site at the time. “I’m not sure what story she was told. I asked her to sit down with me multiple times, but she declined. I offered to sell her the catalog back and sign an NDA, but her staff refused.”

He continued, “Open communication is crucial and can lead to understanding. She and I had only met briefly three or four times in the past, but our conversations were always polite and kind. I consider her to be a very great artist and wish her nothing but the best.”

Braun sold off the catalog for a whopping $160 million, but the damage was already done.

Swift has released four of her six early albums, Fearless, Red, 1989, and Speak Now, since declaring plans to re-record them in 2019. Taylor Swift has yet to release Reputation, which fans anticipate will be released during the Eras Tour, as well as her debut album, Taylor Swift.