Justin Bieber reached out to fellow pop star Taylor Swift on Sunday, calling her out for criticizing his long-time manager Scooter Braun earlier in the day.
Accompanied by an old photo with Swift at the start of his career, Bieber posted a lengthy note on Instagram addressed to the “ME!” singer, defending Braun and criticizing her for airing her issues with Braun for purchasing Nashville-based Big Machine Records — and, therefore, the rights to her music catalog up to 2017’s “Reputation.”
“For you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair,” Bieber wrote. “What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter.”
Earlier on Sunday, Swift had ripped into Braun, saying his acquisition of her music catalog left her “sad and grossed out.”
Citing a photo Bieber posted of him with Kanye West (both clients of Braun) as an example of Braun’s “bullying,” Swift wrote, “I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.”
In Bieber’s Instagram note to Swift later Sunday, he apologized for posting the photo, saying that at the time he thought it was funny but, in retrospect, “it was distasteful and insensitive.”
His apology then turned confrontational — before he offered his services to bring her and Braun together to talk out their differences.
“One thing i know is both scooter and i love you,” Bieber wrote. “I feel like the only way to resolve conflict is through communication. So banter back and fourth online i dont believe solves anything. I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or [sic] any feelings that need to be addressed. Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you.”
Bieber concluded by saying, “I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line.”
Read his entire post below: