Here’s Why Taylor Swift Fans Believe She Shaded Longtime Nemesis Scooter Braun at Eras Tour

Taylor Swift, who immortalizes her rivalries through music, once again proved she's the 'queen of comebacks.' The 34-year-old pop sensation is currently on her Eras Tour and she combined two diss tracks: I Forgot That You Existed and This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things on the eve of her nemesis Scooter Braun's 43rd birthday on June 18, 2024. 

The singer/songwriter sang the songs and when she reached the lyric, Cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do, Swift threw both her hands in the air and let out a prolonged laugh with loyal fans cheering her on in the stadium. She seamlessly flowed from 2019's Lover album to her notoriously revengeful album Reputation, with both songs having some kind of shades, per PEOPLE. 

Fans on X, formerly Twitter, flooded the social media confirming that the tracks were aimed at Braun who recently announced his retirement. For instance, this X user, @flame4goinghome, "I FORGOT THAT YOU EXISTED X THIS IS WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS RIGHT AFTER SCOOTER BRAUN ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT, TAYLOR SWIFT WILL NEVER NOT BE FUNNY." 

Another Swift fan account, @SwiftNYC, shared the video of the Bad Blood singer having a laugh, "Taylor giggling and then saying 'with a straight face…' THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE! THINGS!" @pieceofurheart echoed, "I forgot that you existed x this is why we can't have nice things on Scooter Braun's birthday?" @kazxnikolai appreciated Swift for her perfect timing, "And on Scooter Braun's birthday of all days we do not give her enough credit for being the comedian she is." 

Braun and Swift had a fallout after the former's media company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired the rights of the singer's former label, Big Machine, for a reported $300 million. This gave the record executive rights to the majority of Swift's master recordings which led her to re-record all of her earlier works: Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. 

The Enchanted singer condemned the business deal on Tumblr, calling it her "worst-case scenario" and claiming that as a consequence she'd faced "incessant, manipulative bullying" for years, per US Weekly. During her appearance on Good Morning America, she announced that she'd be recording her first six albums again to gain the rights back, "I think artists deserve to own their own work." 

In April 2021, she wrote in the album's prologue letter, "I've spoken a lot about why I'm remaking my first six albums but the way I’ve chosen to do this will hopefully help illuminate where I'm coming from. Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work." 

Meanwhile, Braun announced his retirement as a music manager 5 years after his dispute with Swift. In a lengthy Instagram post, he shared the news with his followers, "I have been blessed to have had a 'Forrest Gump'-like life. I'm constantly pinching myself and asking 'how did I get here?' And after 23 years this chapter as a music manager has come to an end."