User reviews

The HBO documentary "Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood" attempts to present a balanced view of the intense conflict between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun over her music catalog. It explores Swift's discovery and reaction to Braun's acquisition of her master recordings, highlighting her emotional and strategic response. The film also touches on broader industry debates about artists' rights and ownership. However, while it aims to provide both perspectives, viewers may find it somewhat biased towards Swift's narrative, lacking deeper exploration of Braun's viewpoint and the complexities of the music industry.

Overall, it offers an intriguing glimpse into Swift's fight for artistic control, earning a 6/10 rating for its effort to present both sides amidst a contentious dispute. Taylor's dad gets a 10/10.

Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood

A documentary about the very well known feud between Taylor and her old record label, Bad Blood reminds us of what it's like to use social media to rewrite the narrative of what really happened.

The public got to see that Taylor claimed to have been bullied by Scooter's clients to the point where it appears that she wanted to exact revenge. After fulfilling her contract, she changed labels and wanted to purchase the rights to the masters to her first 6 albums, but was denied. Instead, Scooter bought her label, which included more than just her masters.

The documentary tried to remain objective with the facts given by both sides. The problem I had with these facts is that Taylor used her power through her enormous fan base to induce bullying and threats against Scooter and his family. This is not cool. I don't care what he or she did. This wasn't necessary.

The public will probably never know who is telling the full truth, but the bullying was enough for me. Taylor shouldn't have been bullied by the predominately male music industry, but Scooter shouldn't have his life and his family's life threatened.

Both of them are extremely wealthy people, and nothing will change that, but the world needs to learn that business is business and shouldn't be personal. I'm a Swiftie, but I'm wary of what I learned in this documentary. Be nice to one another, and tell the truth.

If you know nothing of this story, this is a great educational piece. With that being said, I want to point out that the bigger argument in this specific docu series is a moral versus legal one.

Scooter's Version is arguing "He's done nothing wrong (legally)." We don't see too much personal insight from his side of this story.

Taylor's Version is arguing a moral point. That the music industry remains patriarchal and exploitative to artists/creators, especially women. For some artists, music might just be a job, but for Taylor this is her art, her life stories, her thoughts, etc. She's incredibly vulnerable, personal and revealing in her songwriting. It is not something that should be carried so carelessly in the hands of anyone else, let alone people who were so publicly involved in creating devastating trouble in her life.

I obviously have some bias, as I'm both a woman and a long-time Taylor Swift fan. Regardless, Scooter's Version reveals nothing new to the long narrative of bad faith arguments against Taylor Swift. It's just another listen on the seemingly never-ending broken record of women-hating narratives, such as the dismissive boyfriend-frenzied titles, she's been given since the beginning of her career. As if no other artist hasn't written about their personal life before. As if no other artist (or person in general really) had to bend some of the rules to break free.

"Well-behaved women seldom make history."

I am not a Swiftie and knew little about this dispute before watching this documentary. My takeaways are that Swift decided to push back against what may be standard music industry business practice but is morally wrong and she then used her influence over public opinion to sway that standard to be more just. For daring to speak out and use the power she earned on her own merit to try to change the industry, the other side labeled her as "playing the victim" a stereotype often applied to people when they try to change what they believe is wrong. My favorite example was when the trans woman said that Taylor "should be humble" and not "attack" other people. That's pretty standard misogyny, right there. And it's also gaslighting Taylor's boundaries against what she believes is wrong by reframing that as a strategic act of aggression to manipulate and get her way. Taylor comes off as genuine and brave while Braun's defenders are clinical and catty. I found this documentary to be an interesting exploration of the clash of old school/old boy thinking and mavericks like Swift having the power and savvy to shake up that system. Good for her.

I felt disappointed and disheartened after watching this documentary. It's yet another instance of the BS 'he said, she said' trope, where conflicting accounts muddy the waters without offering any real resolution to the story. What's most frustrating is that it fails to bring the narrative to a meaningful conclusion, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. Adding insult to injury, it's clear that this is just another opportunistic series exploiting Taylor's fame for profit, rather than genuinely exploring or honoring the complexities of the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if later we found out that the two guys portraying themselves as non-villains in this documentary, justifying their actions, are behind this series again.