A man in his thirties who goes by “Scooter” may not inspire all that much confidence, but Scooter Braun sounds like a guy who knows what he’s doing.
He’s the guy who “discovered” Justin Bieber, and he gave a very straightforward interview about his brand and some of the talent that he represents and manages. And, yeah, at one point, he had some pretty serious concerns about Justin’s well-being:
“I started to prepare my company to scale, because I was not going to let him work. [After “Journals,” Mr. Bieber’s 2013 digital compilation,] he wanted to tour, and I honestly at that time felt, if he toured, he could die.”
Some managers will try to milk every dollar out of their talent as quickly as possible, but it really sounds like Mr. Braun — sorry, but “Scooter” a lot feels kind of silly — was invested in Justin’s long-term well being. Of course, he’s also literally invested in his long-term well-being, but we’re betting that there’s some genuine human compassion in the mix.
“It wasn’t until something happened that it clicked for him. He made the conscious decision as a young man: ‘I need to make a change in my own life.’ I decided I needed six months of that. I looked at … all these people — when you ask for redemption, people will give it to you. But if you’re the boy who cried wolf, they’ll destroy you. Once I saw there was consistency I said, O.K., now it’s time to go back in the professional life. The click happened about 20 months ago. Six months after that, you start seeing me planning a [Comedy Central] roast. And then the Calvin Klein ads come, and the roast comes.”
That’s how he knew that Justin was solidly on the road to recovery. But the details of the thing from which he needed to recover? The thing that was so troublesome that it could have been life-threatening? That’s a little more elusive. And Mr. Braun was hella vague about it in the interview:
“The outsiders don’t really know what was happening. It was far worse than people realize. And when he is ready, he will tell what he was going through. But it’s a hard thing to watch someone you care and genuinely love go through that. I’m really, really happy that’s over.”
So, for now, we have to be patient, and perhaps speculate. But please, speculate responsibly.