Taylor Swift's AMAs speech hits back at former record label
Swift surpassed the King of Pop Michael Jackson for most American Music Awards ever won
Superstar musician Taylor Swift hit back at her former record label as she accepted one of many awards received during her record-winning night at the American Music Awards.
“This album really felt like a new beginning,” the songstress told the star-studded audience as she accepted the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album for “Lover.” She added: “I also really love my record label, Universal Republic.”
Swift's most recent award-winning album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts when it was released in late-August – selling approximately 679,000 copies and coming second to her own 2017 album, "Reputation," for "biggest week for any album," according to Billboard.
The 29-year-old musician previously shared on Twitter her struggles with record executives Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, of her former label Big Machine Label Group.
Swift's master recordings came under Braun's control after he acquired Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group for $300 million in June, a purchase backed by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. In a Nov. 14 tweet, Swift wrote that Borchetta and Braun initially told her she could not perform her music at the AMAs – a matter that was resolved before the Sunday night show.
The country-singer-turned-pop-star, who topped Forbes’ list of “The World’s Highest-Paid Women in Music 2019,” kicked off her a 10-minute-long show with “The Man,” one of her newest songs – and wearing a white button-down shirt emblazoned with the names of the six albums released through Big Machine.
She then went into other, older anthems, including “Love Story,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “Shake it Off.” She ended with a newer ballad, “Lover."
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Later that night, she won Artist of the Year and Artist of the Decade. Swift’s AMA collection grew to 29 at Sunday's award show – surpassing the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, for most AMAs ever won.
“All any of the artists, or really anyone in this room wants is to create something that will last. Whatever it is in life,” she told the crowd as she accepted the Artist of the Decade award, presented to her by Carole King.
TAYLOR SWIFT FEUD SPURS DEATH THREATS AGAINST SCOOTER BRAUN'S FAMILY
Meanwhile, Braun took to Instagram early Friday morning to share that his family, including his children, had received death threats in the midst of the ongoing dispute between him and Swift. He also posted a photo of one of the threats.
Screenshot shows a message posted on Scooter Braun's Instagram story. (Scooter Braun/Instagram)
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“While I am frustrated with your accusations and respectfully disagree with many of your statements, it is important that I am clear – no artist should ever feel cornered or bullied,” he said in a message addressed to Swift. “I have spent my entire career in service of creatives and artists, never the other way around.”