Sia hits back at blackface accusations after Taylor Swift fans slam her for supporting Scooter Braun

Taylor Swift fans have dug out an old photo of Sia with her face painted black to humiliate her after she voiced support for Scooter Braun in the music catalog feud – but the singer has insisted she was only trying to disguise herself as a backdrop. 

Sia found herself being dragged into the feud and defending herself after Swift’s fans viciously slammed her when she publicly backed Braun.    

Swift revealed on Sunday that she was ‘sad and grossed out’ that her masters now belonged to Braun after it was announced that he had purchased her old record label Big Machine Label Group from Scott Borchetta in a $300 million deal. 

Sia and a slew of other stars came out in Braun’s defense after Swift posted a scathing Tumblr post accusing him of subjecting her to years of incessant and manipulative bullying.

‘You’re a good kind man @scooterbraun I hope this passes quickly. I love you keep going,’ Sia tweeted after news of Braun’s purchase and subsequent feud emerged.  

‘Swifities’ quickly expressed their displeasure with Sia’s statement and one Twitter user accused her of blackface after posting an old photo of the singer with paint on her face.

Sia was forced to defend herself against the accusations.   

Sia has hit back at blackface accusations after Taylor Swift fans viciously slammed her after she publicly supported Scooter Braun amid his music catalog feud with the singer 

Taylor Swift

Scooter Braun

Swift revealed on Sunday that she was ‘sad and grossed out’ that her masters now belonged to Braun after it was announced that he had purchased her old record label Big Machine Label Group from Scott Borchetta in a $300 million deal 

‘For the swift fans trying to make out that I would ever do blackface please see this video. I was painting myself into the backdrop, it was a pre cursor to the wig…’ she tweeted.  

Sia used to paint herself black to blend into the background of shows before eventually using her signature wig to conceal herself. 

She included a link to a video of herself performing Never Gonna Leave Me in 2011 where she was performing on stage wearing all black while attached to a black backdrop. 

Sia joined the likes of Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber in showing support for Braun amid the Swift feud, while Halsey, Cara Delevingne, and Taylor’s ME! collaborator Brendon Urie have been among the celebs to defending the Shake It Off singer.

Braun himself has faced furious backlash over a now-deleted Instagram post that bragged about him ‘buying’ Swift as he claimed he tried to have a mature conversation with her about the purchase of her catalog of past albums. 

When the news first broke of the deal – and before Swift responded angrily – Braun was re-posting messages of congratulations from friends and colleagues on his Instagram story.

One of the messages that Braun re-posted and later deleted from his Instagram story congratulated him on ‘buying’ the 29-year singer.

It included a screenshot of a news report about the deal and a photo of Swift superimposed between Braun and Borchetta with the caption: ‘When your friend buys Taylor Swift!’.  

Braun deleted the post at some point after Swift posted her scathing Tumblr post accusing him of subjecting her to years of incessant and manipulative bullying.

Several Swift fans were quick to share the since-deleted post on social media, saying it ‘proved’ the singer’s bullying claims. 

Defense: The Chandelier singer defended herself against the accusations and posted a photo of herself performing as evidence

Defense: The Chandelier singer defended herself against the accusations and posted a photo of herself performing as evidence 

Backlash: The hit-maker incited the outrage of Swift super fans after voicing her support for Braun

Backlash: The hit-maker incited the outrage of Swift super fans after voicing her support for Braun

On stage: She included a link to a video of herself performing Never Gonna Leave Me in 2011, where she was performing on stage wearing all black while attached to a black backdrop

Sia used to paint herself black to blend into the background of shows before eventually using her signature wig to conceal herself, according to ET Canada

On stage: She included a link to a video of herself performing Never Gonna Leave Me in 2011, where she was performing on stage wearing all black while attached to a black backdrop

Sia used to paint herself black to blend into the background of shows before eventually using her signature wig to conceal herself. She is pictured in 2017

Sia used to paint herself black to blend into the background of shows before eventually using her signature wig to conceal herself. She is pictured in 2017 

The backlash came as sources told The Blast that Braun had tried to call Swift via mutual friends on Monday morning for a ‘mature and private’ discussion about her reaction to the $300 million business deal. 

Swift was reportedly not interested in speaking to Braun and ignored him. 

The drama has been unfolding ever since news broke on Sunday that Braun’s Ithaca Holdings had purchased Swift’s old record label Big Machine Label Group. 

Big Machine released all of Swift’s six studio albums and owns her masters. 

The sale prevents Swift from owning the first six albums in her catalog.  

In her scathing post, Swift said she only learned of the sale on Sunday when she woke up and it ‘was announced to the world’ and claims she was never given the chance to buy back her catalog.   

Borchetta then issued his own lengthy statement accusing the singer of being misleading about the situation, claiming she knew well ahead of time about the deal with Braun. 

‘So, it’s time for some truth… In regard to a post earlier today from Taylor, it’s time to set some things straight,’ he wrote in an open letter on the Big Machine Label Group’s website. 

‘Taylor’s dad, Scott Swift, was a shareholder in Big Machine Records, LLC. We first alerted all of the shareholders on Thursday, June 20th for an official shareholder’s call scheduled for Tuesday, June 25th. 

‘On the 6/25 call the shareholders were made aware of the pending deal with Ithaca Holdings and had 3 days to go over all of the details of the proposed transaction. We then had a final call on Friday, June 28th in which the transaction passed with a majority vote and 3 of the 5 shareholders voting ‘yes’ with 92% of the shareholder’s vote.’

Borchetta said he texted Swift at 9.06pm on Saturday as a courtesy to inform her of the deal prior to news breaking.

It emerged on Sunday that Scooter Braun's (right) Ithaca Holdings had purchased Big Machine Label Group from Scott Borchetta (left), which released all of Swift's studio albums and owns her masters, in a $300 million deal

It emerged on Sunday that Scooter Braun’s (right) Ithaca Holdings had purchased Big Machine Label Group from Scott Borchetta (left), which released all of Swift’s studio albums and owns her masters, in a $300 million deal 

Scooter Braun is facing furious backlash over his now-deleted Instagram post that bragged about him 'buying Taylor Swift' after it was announced that he had purchased her old record label Big Machine Label Group in a $300 million deal

Scooter Braun is facing furious backlash over his now-deleted Instagram post that bragged about him ‘buying Taylor Swift’ after it was announced that he had purchased her old record label Big Machine Label Group in a $300 million deal

Borchetta outlined the terms of what he called an 'extraordinary' offer to Swift which would have kept her at Big Machine Records and given her ownership of her material, posting documents of the offer he made

Borchetta outlined the terms of what he called an ‘extraordinary’ offer to Swift which would have kept her at Big Machine Records and given her ownership of her material, posting documents of the offer he made 

What owning Taylor Swift’s master recordings means: 

The master recording of a song is the first actual record made in a studio. Other versions of the song that appear on Spotify, iTunes and CDs are all copies of that master recording.

Anyone who wants to use or license the song needs to get permission from the person who owns the master and pay a fee.

It is standard practice in the music industry for an artist to sign away the master rights to their recordings.

In exchange, the contract will award the musician an advance and sales royalties.

Artists including Metallica, AC/DC, Pink Floyd and Chicago have bought back rights to their music, but this is rare as it undermines how the industry makes its money.

Swift has been pushing to own her master recordings so she has final say on how they get used.

Owning an artist’s master recording has become more profitable with the rise of streaming services because it means less is spent on marketing given users are able to stream a back catalog at the touch of a button.

Swift’s streaming numbers represented a 21.2% share of Big Machine Records’ total in 2016 – a year without an album release – and a 56.6% share in 2015 – after the fall 2014 release of her ‘1989’ record.

In 2017, she accounted for 41.2% of their streaming share and 34.1% so far this year, Billboard reported.

‘I guess it might somehow be possible that her dad Scott, 13 Management lawyer Jay Schaudies (who represented Scott Swift on the shareholder calls) or 13 Management executive and Big Machine LLC shareholder Frank Bell (who was on the shareholder calls) didn’t say anything to Taylor over the prior 5 days,’ he wrote. 

‘I guess it’s possible that she might not have seen my text. But, I truly doubt that she ‘woke up to the news when everyone else did’. 

Swift’s representative later doubled down on how she found out about the deal after it was implied that her father, Scott Swift, had known about the deal for at least a week.  

Initial reports suggested that Swift’s father was on the record label’s board of directors but her representative later clarified that he was a shareholder.

‘Scott Swift is not on the board of directors and has never been. On June 25, there was a shareholder phone call that Scott Swift did not participate in due to a very strict NDA that bound all shareholders and prohibited any discussion at all without risk of severe penalty,’ her rep told DailyMail.com.

‘Her dad did not join that call because he did not want to be required to withhold any information from his own daughter. 

‘Taylor found out from the news articles when she woke up before seeing any text from Scott Borchetta and he did not call her in advance.’

In his post, Borchetta also denied Swift’s claims that she wasn’t given the opportunity to purchase her work. 

He outlined the terms of what he called an ‘extraordinary’ offer to Swift, which would have kept her at Big Machine Records and given her ownership of her material, but it fell through when she inked a pact with Universal Music Group last November.

‘Taylor had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave,’ he wrote. 

He went over their interactions during the critical time period in which she switched labels.

‘Taylor and I then talked through the deal together,’ he said. ‘As you will read, 100 percent of all Taylor Swift assets were to be transferred to her immediately upon signing the new agreement. We were working together on a new type of deal for our new streaming world that was not necessarily tied to ‘albums’ but more of a length of time.’

Borchetta said he and Swift ‘remained on very good terms’ throughout the negotiation process, and upon her pact with Universal. 

Swift left Big Machine and signed with Universal Music Group back in November because she says she knew that re-signing with the group that had managed her since she was 15 would only result in her not owning her future work.

Swift had earlier shared this screenshot of Bieber's August 2016 Instagram post in which he's he's Facetiming Braun and Kanye West as proof of Braun's bullying tactics

Swift had earlier shared this screenshot of Bieber’s August 2016 Instagram post in which he’s he’s Facetiming Braun and Kanye West as proof of Braun’s bullying tactics

In a scathing Tumblr post, Taylor Swift said she only learned of the sale Sunday when she woke up and it 'was announced to the world'

In a scathing Tumblr post, Taylor Swift said she only learned of the sale Sunday when she woke up and it ‘was announced to the world’ 

‘When I left my masters in (Big Machine Label Group founder Scott Borchetta’s) hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them,’ she said on Sunday. 

‘Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.’

She claimed Braun got two clients, including Justin Bieber, to bully her online about a leaked and illegally recorded snippet of a phone call she had with Kim Kardashian. She also referenced when Kanye West, a Braun client, organized a ‘revenge porn music video which strips my body naked.’

Swift said that Braun had ‘stripped her’ of her life’s work that she ‘wasn’t given an opportunity to buy’.

‘My musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,’ she said.

Borchetta said he was not aware of Swift’s passionate feelings about Braun but did know of her discord toward’s the manager’s superstar client, Bieber.  

‘As to her comments about ‘being in tears or close to it’ anytime my new partner Scooter Braun’s name was brought up, I certainly never experienced that,’ he said. 

‘Was I aware of some prior issues between Taylor and Justin Bieber? Yes.

‘But there were also times where Taylor knew that I was close to Scooter and that Scooter was a very good source of information for upcoming album releases, tours, etc, and I’d reach out to him for information on our behalf. Scooter was never anything but positive about Taylor.’

He said Swift twice passed on Braun’s offers to include her in shows he organized following the Manchester bombing in 2017 and the Parkland, Florida school shooting in 2018. 

He posted both text exchanges from Swift’s departure from his label last November; and a message he sent her Saturday. 

Justin Bieber has leapt to the defense of his manager Scooter Braun in response to Taylor Swift's Tumblr post denouncing his purchase of all her old music masters

Justin Bieber has leapt to the defense of his manager Scooter Braun in response to Taylor Swift’s Tumblr post denouncing his purchase of all her old music masters

Demi Lovato was among those to publicly support Scooter Braun in the wake of Swift's Tumblr post

Demi Lovato was among those to publicly support Scooter Braun in the wake of Swift’s Tumblr post 

Girl power: Halsey is one of the many women in music taking a stand for Taylor Swift, who recently called out Scooter Braun after a years-long feud culminated with him acquiring her old music

Beautifully written: She wrote: 'She deserves to own the painstaking labor of her heart. She has surpassed all expectations of what any artist is even capable of. She catapulted her stardom into the Milky Way'

Girl power: Halsey is one of the many women in music taking a stand for Taylor Swift, who recently called out Scooter Braun after a years-long feud culminated with him acquiring her old music

Cara Delevingne

Martha Hunt

Cara Delevingne and Martha Hunt were among those to come out in defense of Swift following the news 

In Swift’s message dated November 19, she wrote, ‘Owning my masters was very important to me, but I’ve since realized that there are things that mean even more to me in the bigger picture. I had a choice whether to bet on my past or to bet on the future and I think knowing me, you can guess which one I chose.’ 

In the message he sent her Saturday, Borchetta advised Swift that the Wall Street Journal was going to report news of the Braun merger, adding, ‘I wanted to pass along to you the same courtesy that you passed along to me in regard to my future.’ 

Representatives for Braun did not immediately respond to request for comment.   

Justin Bieber apologized to Swift late Sunday for a 2016 Instagram post in which he was seen with Braun and Kanye West – the post she accused him of sharing as a way to bully her. 

But Bieber went on to defend Braun who he says ‘didn’t have anything to do with it’ and has her back. He also questioned why she would use social media to attack Braun, saying she knew it would prompt her fans ‘to hate on’ the music manager. 

‘Hey Taylor. First of all i would like to apologize for posting that hurtful instagram post, at the time i thought it was funny but looking back it was distasteful and insensitive..,’ Bieber wrote.

‘I have to be honest though it was my caption and post that I screenshoted of scooter and Kanye that said ‘taylor swift what up’ he didnt have anything to do with it and it wasnt even a part of the conversation in all actuality he was the person who told me not to joke like that.. Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you.!

‘For you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. 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.’ 

Braun’s wife, Yael Cohen, also chimed in on Instagram refuting Swift’s claim that she found out the news with the rest of the world.

‘Your dad is a shareholder and was notified and Borchetta personally told you before this came out,’ Cohen alleges. 

‘My husband is anything but a Bully.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk