Did Taylor Swift’s “Vigilante S—t” really take aim at Scooter Braun and Yael Cohen? The record executive clears the air

2024 ADL “In Concert Against Hate” Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary - Inside - Source: Getty
2024 ADL “In Concert Against Hate” Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary - Inside - Source: Getty

Scooter Braun has addressed the rumors that linked Taylor Swift’s 2022 hit song Vigilante S—t with him and his ex-wife’s divorce. On the July 17 episode of the Question Everything podcast, Scooter Braun shared that the song is not about his relationship with his ex-partner, Yael.

Taylor Swift’s Vigilante Sh*t tells the story of a scorned woman getting revenge on her husband. The second verse reads:

“She needed cold, hard proof, so I gave her some/ She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?/ Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride/ Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife.”

The song was released on October 21, 2022. Immediately after its release, fans believed the song was about Taylor’s long-time feud partner Scooter Braun who finalized his divorce in September of 2022.

Scooter debunked the rumors during his appearance on the Question Everything podcast. When asked if he thought the song was about him, he replied:

“No, cause I talk to Yael every day. My ex-wife is one of my best friends. So me and my ex wife laugh about stuff.”

He added:

“We don't even call each other ex. That’s like my partner, you know? That's the mother of my children. That is family for life. I have a tattoo on my finger that says ‘same team’ after my divorce, because she and I are on the same team for life. It’s what we say to each other. So, no, I never thought that was about us."

More details on Scooter Braun’s appearance on the Question Everything podcast

Scooter Braun joined Danielle Robay for an episode of the Question Everything podcast. The episode, which was released on July 17, was originally recorded in April. According to the video description on YouTube, Scooter Braun spoke about his 23 years as an entrepreneur, investor, and manager in the music industry, guiding the careers of numerous celebrities like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and J Balvin.

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He also opened up about his divorce from Yael Cohen, his partner of seven years. He revealed that at one point in life, he saw his divorce as a failure.

“No one in my family had ever been divorced. And at that time, I built up the foundation of Scooter...So, having the perfect career, the perfect wife, the perfect life, the kids, the success, I thought that made me worthy of love. And it wasn't until our marriage came apart and I couldn't fix it. I felt like a failure because I didn't have a foundation.”

He added that the divorce was “the greatest thing that ever happened” to him, because it made him recognise his flaws and learn to appreciate life.

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He stated that not being the with his kids most of the time was the hardest part of the divorce.

“Losing my marriage affected me. The idea of not being with my kids 50% of the time deeply affected me. So much so that in October 2020, when I didn't really even understand what was going on, I had a suicidal thought at the height of my career for twenty minutes.”

He added that he has gone through his healing and is now in a beautiful place he wouldn't trade for anything in the world.


Scooter Braun shares three children with his ex-wife, Yael: Jagger, Levi, and Hart.

Edited by Sarah Nazamuddin Harniswala