Unwrapping the Beef: Taylor Swift Fans Are Swiping at Kamala Harris After a Party at Scooter Braun's House

After photographs from Scooter Braun’s house surfaced late Saturday night, showing a cadre of celebrities assembled for a fireside chat with Kamala Harris, Taylor Swift fans mobilized on Twitter to wage war in the senator’s mentions. Katy Perry, who unfollowed Braun after “reconciling” with the former snake charmer and “You Need To Calm Down” singer, similarly found herself in hot water with the Swifties. To understand how we got here, let me take you on a thorough tour of three weeks in celebrity swiping.

June 30, 2019:

Taylor Swift unleashes hell with a Tumblr post documenting what she alleges is “years of bullying” by Scooter Braun and his cabal of pop stars. She even claimed that Braun was instrumental in orchestrating the secret Kim Kardashian recording that reignited her feud with Kanye West. That morning, it’d been announced that Braun, the owner of Ithaca Holdings, had acquired Swift’s masters in the sale of Big Machine Records. She claimed she’d “pleaded” for her masters before the sale.

Scott Borchetta, the former owner of the label, countered these claims with emails allegedly sent between Swift and himself. While Taylor Swift’s representatives claim she found out about the news “when she woke up,” Borchetta disputes this. Remember, Swift’s father is a shareholder in Big Machine Records and her lawyers were present when the sale was being finalized. While there is a conceivable reality where her team and family hid this from her, I find it unlikely. Regardless, Justin Bieber immediately joined the fray in defense of Braun, as did Demi Lovato (who Braun recently signed), and his wife Yael. Swift, meanwhile, rallied support from Todrick Hall, Halsey, and Iggy Azalea.

July 1, 2019:

Sia wakes up and tweets her opinion of Braun: “Your a good kind man, @scooterbraun I hope this passes quickly. I love you keep going.”

July 3, 2019:

Sia attempts to defend herself after Swift fans surface photos of the singer with her face questionably painted black. While she claims she was “painting herself into the background,” it isn’t a great look!

July 4, 2019:

Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin party with Scooter Braun at a 4th of July parade.

July 5, 2019:

Demi Lovato announces that she’s “taking a break for a while” after Swifties flood her mentions for supporting Scooter Braun. The same day, Scooter Braun responded to a fan on Instagram: “I’m good. Thanks.”

July 10, 2019:

Taylor Swift performs “Shake It Off” at Amazon’s Prime Day concert, with many fans noting her emphasis of the lyric “dirty cheats.”

July 13, 2019:

Kelly Clarkson offers advice to Swift, suggesting that she re-record her old albums so she can maintain a steady profit stream from them.

July 17, 2019:

In an interview with Australian radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O, Katy Perry says that reconciling with Swift was a “process.” She describes sending the singer an actual olive branch, and running into her at various industry events during the recent awards season.

“I started seeing her around at like the Oscar parties when she was accompanying her boyfriend [Joe Alwyn], and I just went up to her and I was like ‘Hey, you know it’s been a long time and I think we’ve grown up a little bit, and I just wanted to say I’m sorry and that I’m really here for you and I love you. I hope that we can be friends in the future.’

Perry also claims that the pair “trust” each other now, and that Swift made her “cookies.” Remember, because this is important—Swift and Karlie Kloss used to bake cookies (some of which were sold in actual stores.) Ariana Grande is also roped into the feud yet again when Braun posts a photo of the two on Instagram after he delivered the singer her Grammy.

Grande, who posted her own photo with her Grammy, left Braun out of the narrative entirely.

July 18, 2019:

Scooter Braun shares his client Karlie Kloss’ recent Vogue cover on Instagram. Kloss, whose wedding Swift skipped after an apparent falling out, is a client of Brauns. She has also been silent on the feud completely, despite former friends like Cara Delevingne supporting Swift through the turbulent press cycle. After Braun’s post circulates social media, Swifties flock to Kloss’ Instagram with comments like “#JudasKloss.” Yikes!

July 21, 2019:

News broke this morning that Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande attended a fundraiser for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris at a fundraiser hosted by none other than Scooter Braun. Photographs from the event were scarce save for one taken Harris’ husband, Douglass Emhoff. The caption? “So this happened.”

The Daily Mail helpfully documented the ensuing mobilization of Swifties in Harris’ Twitter mentions, with one writing:

I was so excited for you as a democratic candidate, but you choose to go to an event held by @scooterbraun, a man whose arrogance mirrors our president’s, I can no longer hold my excitement and faith for you as a presidential candidate

Other Swift fans threatened to withhold their votes: “you will lose a lot of votes to Elizabeth Warren,” read one Tweet. Imagine living in a world where embittered Taylor Swift fans could turn the tide of the Democratic primaries. (Ironic, seeing as their leader infamously refused to speak up during the 2016 election.)

With Perry’s recent support of Swift now called into question as the links between Grande and Braun are further cemented—I expect that this particular beef will be burnt to a charcoal-colored crisp.