Scooter Braun Deactivated His Instagram — Is It Related to the Justin Baldoni Controversy?

Talent manager Scooter Braun is once again in the eye of the controversy storm after deactivating his Instagram. Eagle-eyed internet sleuths noticed his profile had vanished the same weekend as the 2025 Golden Globes. Surely it's just a coincidence, or maybe he was hoping nobody would notice while seeing who flourished and flopped on the red carpet.

This move came days after former client Justin Bieber reportedly blocked Braun on Instagram, who has a history of difficult relationships with artists. Bieber is not the only entertainer who has had some issues with Braun. Why did he pull the rip cord on his Instagram account? Here's what we know.

Stay with us because there is a lot to unpack. Braun is name-checked in The New York Times article detailing the alleged smear campaign lodged against Blake Lively by It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni. Evidently, Braun is the CEO of the company that's a majority stakeholder in the PR firm hired by Baldoni. The PR firm is TAG PR, and its parent company is HYBE America. This was confirmed by a January 2023 piece in Variety announcing Braun as the sole CEO of HYBE.

HYBE is a South Korean entertainment company established in 2005. It has locations in America, Japan, and Latin America. The Korean Herald reported that in September 2024, the "K-pop giant HYBE said it has acquired a U.S.-based public relations agency as part of its strategy to bolster the PR capabilities of its American unit." It was shared in HYBE's semi-annual report that they held a 51 percent stake in The Agency Group PR, LCC (TAG PR).

HYBE invested in TAG PR a mere three months after the company was launched by Melissa Nathan, who did so in June 2024, per The Hollywood Reporter. Other than HYBE America, Nathan brought in Drake, Johnny Depp, the Chainsmokers, Logan Paul, DreamCrew, PRIME, Rostrum Records, Cedar Park Entertainment, and Platoon. Nathan and her company were hired by Baldoni and his studio in August 2024 to allegedly do crisis management work around It Ends With Us.

In light of everything that has been happening regarding Lively, Baldoni, and the film, it's possible that Braun is trying to distance himself from TAG PR and Nathan. Of course, Braun has had his fair share of controversy long before this.

Braun is the reason why Taylor Swift chose to re-record all of her earlier albums after he bought Big Machine Records in 2019. This was Swift's label and it's where she recorded her first six albums, which meant Braun owned the rights to these albums. Swift then accused Braun of not letting her use her music as she saw fit. In retaliation, she left the label and re-recorded her albums.

As far as Bieber unfollowing Braun on Instagram goes, those two have known each other since the singer was starting out in 2008. Braun was his very first manager, after discovering the "Baby" singer on YouTube. When Bieber decided to go in a new direction in 2023, Braun announced his retirement in an Instagram post. Apparently, there is more to this story.

Although singer Madison Beer does not have the same star power as Swift and Bieber, she allegedly had some issues with Braun as well. Like Bieber, Beer was discovered by Braun on YouTube after he found her singing covers of Etta James songs. In an interview with The Forty-Five, Beer was asked about her time with Braun. "It’s something I’ve only just lately been thinking about a lot — it was such a false narrative," she said.

She suggested that Braun treated her like a little girl and said she had "no idea what she was talking about." Beer went on to say that it took her years to finally find her voice, though she was grateful for the fact that fame didn't find her at age 15.