Scooter Braun was meeting with Lucian Grainge, the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, when an aide chimed in with some news.
There have been reports on Twitter of a bombshell at Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester, England. Braun, who at 36 manages Grande and a slew of other pop megastars including Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Usher, asked his assistant to do more research and get back to them. A minute later, the same aide came back with more tweets, but there was still no official confirmation from authorities or the media.
It was May 22, still in the early afternoon- noon in Los Angeles, where Braun and Grainge were meeting.
"It might sound like something," said Grainge, who, in addition to being one of the most powerful musical executives in the history of industry, grew up in London and was knighted by Prince William last year. "Why don't we take a 20 minute break and let you handle it?" ”
Braun agreed.
He and his team searched thousands of miles for news of what was happening at the concert. Within minutes it was clear that something terrible had happened.
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Braun is generally laid back, the eternal cool guy. He wears shorts, tennis shoes and a baseball cap around his desk and has no reservations about dropping an F-bomb or two no matter who is there. But when he talks about that day now, he calms down a bit.
“In my wildest dreams, I never thought this could be what it was,” he says.
Just after 10:30 p.m. local time, just after the concert ended, a suicide bomber waiting in the lobby of Manchester Arena detonated an explosive device packed with nuts and bolts, killing 22 people – a mix of children and parents waiting to pick up their children – and injuring more than 100.
At the time though, as Braun headed for the airport, details were still scarce. Grande was crying uncontrollably. There were rumors, conflicting stories, total chaos.
Originally, he was going to fly to London and meet Grande there. But when he spoke to the police, they said they still didn't know exactly what was going on, and he felt like it would be a better idea to get the pop star out of the country. Braun decided to meet Grande in Boca Raton, Florida at her grandmother's house.
They spent the next two days buried in that house, on edge. Braun also received information from the police and from the hospitals where the victims were being treated. Grande didn't want to continue her tour — she wasn't sure she could sing those songs again — so Braun took on the tour cancellation insurance. He made sure the agents and promoters involved knew the shows wouldn't happen. He arranged consultations not just for Grande, but for anyone on his staff. He called and thanked people for the way they handled things. As he phoned, he found himself more and more upset.
PHOTO:ROBERT ASCROFT; SIR. PORTER BELSTAFF, LEATHER JACKET; CALIFORNIA COWBOY, HOODIE; CITIZEN COTTON, T-SHIRT;
YEEZY SNEAKERS
"I just get mad as a dad," he says. “I get angry because the parents are killed and the children killed. And the thing that I couldn't escape was this idea that someone was standing outside that arena and had to look at the kids leaving the concert with joy in their eyes and say, 'OK, I've had enough children around me. Now I will. »»
He was constantly watching the news, anger continuing to mount, when he decided he had to act. He remembers telling anyone who wanted to listen, “We have to do something. We have to do something now! We don't have to wait; we have to go back! »
Related: 5 Ways Successful People Take Control of Life Her first step was getting Grande on board. At first she was hesitant. He now admits it wasn't fair to ask him to do it so soon. But by the time he landed in Los Angeles, he'd had four text messages from her and she wanted to talk.
"I'll never forget," she said, "Scooter, I keep thinking about it and if I do nothing, these children died in vain, and I am not what I say I am. I don't know what to do, but I know I have to do something. "I said, 'Well, listen, I have an idea. It's a great idea. It's a crazy idea, but I think it's the right thing. »»
"In my wildest dreams, I never thought it could be what it was. »
He didn't go public until he got some advice and was sure she could handle a return to the stage - in the same town where the attack happened. "Ariana is one tough Italian girl," Braun says. "And when she has this idea in her mind that she's going to get something, she's gung-ho." Even when she felt as excited as he did, he reminded her that she might not feel the same tomorrow. That's why he waited two weeks and didn't announce the date until a week before the show, and why the tickets didn't go on sale until a few days after.
The next step was to get more acts.
"I knew Justin was there," he said. “I knew his schedule and I knew him, and I knew that if I asked him to do it, he would say Yes . So I called him and asked him and he was like, "Sure, I'm in." “I called Katy [Perry]; I called Miley [Cyrus]; I called Chris Martin [from Coldplay]. ”
From there he snowballed and within 24 hours he had engagements from a collection of the biggest names in pop music (some of whom he represents), including the Blacks Eyed Peas, Pharrell Williams, Niall Horan of One Direction, Liam Gallagher of Oasis and Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons. The performers have all agreed to pay for their own transportation and perform for free. Live Nation agreed to sell the tickets without making a profit, and the BBC agreed to broadcast the show live.
The last step was to find a venue. The Manchester arena was booked, and the nearby stadium and polo ground would be occupied by a Manchester United charity football match – which, in Manchester, is big business. But Braun would not be deterred. He called a former English Premier League player who happened to know the match organizer. Soon the football game, nine months in the making, was suddenly rescheduled for a concert that was staged within days.
PHOTO:ROBERT ASCROFT; DOLCE BLUE, SWEATERS; DIOR, JEANS; JOINT PROJECTS, SNEAKERS
That's the power of the Braun Scooter.
***
On the front door of the converted West Hollywood mansion Braun uses for an office is a small sign greeting anyone who enter. He says one word:BELIEVE . On the walls inside, there are framed photos and magazine covers and massive glossy posters of Bieber and Usher and Tori Kelly. (In hers, Kelly is pictured smiling next to the turquoise-hooded elephant she voiced in the 2016 film Sing.) In a courtyard on the second floor, there's a barbecue grill and a ping-table. -pong. And along one wall near Braun's personal office is a display of hundreds of tiny Disney vinyl collectibles the company sent him after he took a Disneyland tour and mentioned he liked them.
A wall next to his office is covered in photos of Braun – who has a baby face and a short beard – with a mix of family and various celebrities:shaking hands with Magic Johnson, dancing on stage with the sensation Korean pop Psy (another client), hugging Whoopi Goldberg. There are as many pictures of Bieber as anyone, and looking at all of the pictures you can see him aging from teenager to grown man. Another wall is covered with massive shelves containing photos of philanthropy trips he's taken with his brother, Adam, and dozens of trophies and awards his clients have received over the past decade.
The staff of SB Projects, the Braun company founded in 2007, is young – almost all of its more than 40 employees are under 30 years old. There are bodies moving in all directions, people laughing and gathering for impromptu group conversations about basketball and new restaurants and the pros and cons of skinny jeans.
ROBERT ASCROFT
The day of my visit, Braun has an old college friend from out of town, and Braun's wife, Yael Cohen Braun, comes into the office to say hello. He's also recording promos for an upcoming talk he's giving, and he and his staff are negotiating the details of a new Black Eyed Peas album and what looks like some sort of TV deal for someone. On his desk is the book Sons of Abraham:A Candid Conversation on Issues Dividing and Uniting Jews and Muslims .
Right now though, he's sitting on one of his oversized couches, scratching and waving his forearm. A few weeks earlier, for his 36th birthday, he got a tattoo:Hebrew signs for life and luck. He was told to keep it covered in the sun and to avoid swimming pools. It's not his first ink - he also has the word family written on the inside of his left wrist. But still, a few days after getting it, he went swimming with his two young children, the fresh tattoo exposed to the sun for several hours. Now it's red and cracking.
He's worried his arm might be infected, and his staff are working to get him an appointment today with one of Beverly Hills' top plastic surgeons, which doesn't help. is no small feat, even for Braun.
Someone on her team jokes that she's disappointed to hear it's so soft because she was looking forward to it having a hook for one arm. He laughs, smiles and rubs his arm.
Before you meet someone like Braun, you expect a certain amount of sleaze. But Braun is doing everything he can to dispel that notion. He often talks about his wife and two children, his parents and his siblings. He says he didn't realize that some of the great show business producers in the past were also good family men, because no one mentions that stuff in the behind-the-scenes stories. He says that's why he mixes up so many family photos for his nearly 3 million Instagram followers and more than 4 million Twitter followers. He also invites Yael, a public health activist and founder and CEO of the nonprofit F—Cancer, to bring their young sons, Jagger and Levi, to the office most days of the week, and charges his staff to tell people he's 'in a meeting. »
He is also just the right amount of self-mockery. He often reminds people, "I'm an adult who goes by on a scooter. »
Related: Scooter Braun on the Power of Vulnerability
Braun is best known for the talent he manages. He plays an important role in the two Bieber documentaries, Never Say Never and 2013 Believe , and if one of his clients is in the news, he is often the one commenting. But SB Projects also produces TV and movies and handles all kinds of social media. Braun was an early investor in both Uber and Spotify. It's clear these days, however, that he's thinking about other things too. Something bigger than entertainment and technology.
"I know I have a job to do now, but I'm 36 and I know I have a responsibility more than ever. »
“I don't know if I'm going to be a manager forever,” he tells me. "I don't know if I'm going to produce movies or TV shows. I know I have a job to do now, but I'm 36 and I know I have a responsibility more than ever. He says our society suffers from a lack of leadership.
It sounds a bit like the idea of getting involved in politics. The avenue appears to be open:In August, reports surfaced that other California power brokers were urging him to run for governor.
"I don't know," he says. " I do not know. It's something I think about all the time. ”
***
The story of how Braun found a charismatic cute tween with the voice of an angel, and turned it into one of the most successful entertainers of them all times, is already a music industry legend. He was looking for the next Michael Jackson, a prodigy who could sing and dance and write music and hypnotize tens of millions of people. He found 12-year-old Bieber on YouTube and contacted his mother, Pattie Mallette (who gave birth to Bieber when he was 17), and the rest is a platinum record.
This Not part of this story is concern, his early desire to make sure Bieber's life was nothing like Jackson's. Braun says his own father reminded him that in a very real way he would be part of this boy's childhood, trading him for fame and fortune. Braun says he made a promise to young Bieber before he started this adventure that he would always be in his life whether Bieber was a musician or not. He's committed to a relationship, not just a business deal.
Braun grew up in suburban Connecticut, the son of a dentist father and an orthodontist mother. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors. He was a late developer, the smallest kid in the class, until high school. But he was still popular. His name is Scott, but people call him Scooter since he played baseball, basketball and football as a kid. He remembers his father reminding him and his two siblings, Adam and Liza, that they were no better than anyone, that everyone was of equal value. He also remembers his dad telling them every night before bed, "Brauns are special." Sometimes he would say to Scooter and Adam, “You are my princes. »
“Well, look, I have an idea. It's a great idea. It's a crazy idea, but I think it's the right thing. »
"The balance was that they made us believe our gifts weren't for us," says Braun. "You are special and you are here to help people. »
Related: This is how self-belief leads to mind-blowing success
He went to college at Emory University in Atlanta and, after a brief fling selling fake IDs, started a business throwing parties. At first they were at a local bar, but soon he was hosting big VIP events:an NBA All-Star Game bash, after parties on a Britney Spears or Eminem tour. When he was 19, producer Jermaine Dupri hired him for a marketing position at So So Def records, and he left Emory. At 20, Braun was the executive director of marketing for So So Def. After starting his own company, he brokered a $12 million deal between Ludacris and Pontiac.
When he found Bieber in 2008, he worked on building his YouTube following, then signed to a “360 deal” on Usher’s label, Island Def Jam — meaning the label got a cut on all revenue, from ticket sales to merchandise. The label also split the profits with a company Braun formed with Usher and promised to pay for Bieber's lessons.
Bieber has said in numerous interviews that Braun was "like a close uncle" to him. Mallette said Braun was like a brother to her. Braun talks about the ups and downs of the relationship – screaming, crying, seeing the world together – and defends the pop star as if he were family.
He also points out that Bieber's finances are secure for generations to come and that safeguards are in place to avoid many of the child star disasters of the past. Bieber has often noted in interviews how harsh Braun can be.
From there, Braun has expanded his client list. And since his story is so intertwined with Bieber's and Bieber is one of the most famous people on the planet, Braun has become a celebrity himself, especially recognizable to a certain subset of pop music fans. . For years, Braun would walk around before Bieber shows and find a small group of kids (usually young girls ready to scream at the camera) who didn't have tickets or had terrible seats, and Braun would surprise them with reserved seats in the front row.
WEST:FEATUREFLASH PHOTO AGENCY; BIEBER:JACK FORDYCE; LARGE:JAGUAR PS; USHER:TANIA VOLOBUEVA; POIS:LEV RADIN
His impressive ear for talent is a gift, he says, but it's more about finding a way to "fill a void in the market." He says he has everyday tastes, so he thinks if he likes something, millions and millions of others might too. And Braun also has a simple and almost poetic way of looking at his relationships with his clients. He says he loves them and his mentors told him he was too close to them. But he says he accepts the fact that they are going – here where he will drop one of these F-bombs – on him on a day. He knows it's possible anyone could sign with another manager at any time.
"Ariana's been back once and then back again," he says. "I'm not Kanye's first manager. Even Justin, whom I love to death, might call me one day and say, "Hey man, I appreciate everything you've done for me, and I don't want you to do it anymore." ”
About this, he says, “If you really love someone, you can't be mad if they don't love you the same way. You just have to like them because you don't like them because you expect something in return. ”
***
The day before the benefit concert in Manchester, there was a terrorist attack on the other side of the country, in London. Some feared that the concert would be canceled by the organizers or by the police. Braun says Chris Martin called him after the London attack broke.
"Before I could even get a word out, he said, 'Please tell me that you don't cancel. Because it's more important than ever. »» He says Marcus Mumford texted him saying the same thing.
The night of the concert was cloudy and gray. About 50,000 people were in the stadium. It has also been broadcast in over 50 countries around the world and streamed live on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Over 22 million people watched at least part of the concert on the BBC, making it the most-watched program of the year in the UK.
Each artist performed short sets and they all seemed to fire without any problems. Braun walked onstage with the show's other producers before Grande performed. He wore a hoodie and cap and read notes on his phone. On behalf of Grande and all the organizers of the show, he thanked Live Nation, the City of Manchester, the British Red Cross, the BBC and all the musicians who had traveled on short notice to be there. He thanked first responders and bystanders who risked their lives to save others. And he repeatedly thanked the crowd for coming. Then he looked up from his phone and watched the sea of people waving and getting emotional.
GETTY IMAGES / DAVE HOGAN FOR ONE LOVE MANCHESTER
“Last night this nation was challenged” , did he declare. "You all had a decision to make, if you were to come here tonight. He gestured to the enthusiastic audience. “And it is so beautiful. You made this decision. You looked fear in the face and said, 'No, we are Manchester' and the world is watching.
He explained that he recently went to the children's hospital with Grande and that a television was set up there so the injured children could watch the show. He said a little boy asked him to remind the world that “love spreads”. He told the crowd that their bravery gave hope to everyone else worried about the next terrorist attack.
“Evil will test us,” he said. “He will show his face again. But thanks to you, we can now represent through this as a global community that we will be ready, we will be fearless, we will be great, and we will honor our children.
He paused for a moment. He reminded everyone watching that “hate will never win.”
Related: How Positivity Makes You Healthy and Effective
Then he introduced Grande, and the roar from the crowd was deafening.
As he talks about it now, he's purifying his lips. He thinks of the kids who were still wearing cat ears — which Grande did for years — when the bomb went off. He still remembers meeting the husband of a woman who was killed picking up their child from the original show.
"I feel like I'm at that point in life where I'm literally in this position and I have to get up and do something. »
“We had to take a stand,” says Braun. It was a 3 hour 20 minute concert, but it was also a message. It was pop music as a force against violence, a call for unity against blind hatred. Entertainment as a way to heal, as a way to improve the world. With the power to make people cry.
If you think about it in those terms, some sort of leap into politics suddenly seems a little more reasonable. He says he's been thinking about it since the November 2016 election, and even more so after Manchester. It was obvious when he chained the success Hand in hand Telethon for Hurricane Relief in September. He struggled for a long time with the idea of stepping forward, taking on any type of public leadership role, because he feared it was an arrogant thing to do.
“I realized that it was the exact opposite,” he says. “I would make a lot more money and be a lot more successful financially if I never got into public service. I could just be alone and continue my business. If I choose to go into public service, I give up all of that.
He says the more the country changes — “the country my family sacrificed to come to” — the more frustrated he gets with where things are going, the more he thinks about it. He doesn't know what kind of role he wants to play; whether he wants to run a campaign, run for office himself, or start a new political party. Imagine the power (and the danger), if you could make a politician as popular as Justin Bieber.
ROBERT ASCROFT
Braun also says he's not sure he wants to put his family on the line. test. As he talks about it, he stops. He has an analogy that sums up where he is in life. He says he likes Italian food, it's his favorite.
"I'm sitting here eating this pasta and across the street a big guy is beating the [crap] of a little dude i saw literally did nothing wrong. And I look at him. And they say to me, “Hey, if you get up and cross the street, if you leave this restaurant, you can never come back. You will never be able to have this pasta again. Oh, and this big guy is a lot taller than you, so you'll probably [beat] too, so we suggest you sit here. ”
He knows this Italian restaurant wrestling metaphor is a work in progress, but Braun got to the point.
“I don’t know how not to get up,” he says. "I feel like I'm at that point in life where I'm literally in this position and I have to get up and do something. ”
He would like to talk more about politics and leadership and the direction of his life. But because he's Scooter Braun, his people were able to get the doctor's last-minute appointment to have that tattoo checked out, and now he has to go.
Related: Video:Braun Scooter I/O Shoot Cover
This article originally appeared in the November 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
Featured Image:Grooming:by Cesar Paniagua; styling:Ariana Weisner; Ovadia &Sons, jacket; Dior, jeans; John Elliot, T-shirt; Yeezy sneakers
