UPDATED: Scooter Braun has since responded via Instagram stories, confirming he and The Kid Laroi planned the TikTok post that called the manager a “mistake” to promote Laroi’s new single.
Braun responded to the obscure post, writing, “For those asking about the beef…and my friends who are wanting to go hard…don’t believe everything you see on the Internet. Make sure to check out @TheKidLaroi new upcoming single produced by our very own @ThisIsWatt.”
Braun also posted screenshots of texts between him and Laroi asking permission before posting.
The 18-year-old pop star uploaded a 10-second TikTok with a snippet of his upcoming single “Thousand Miles” (out April 22) which features the lyric: “Here goes another mistake I know I’m gon’ make.” In Laroi’s TikTok, the video caption reads: “show me ur last mistake. use this sound,” before cutting to an image montage of Scooter Braun. It amassed more than 50,000 likes in the two hours since it posted.
@thekidlaroi4/22♬ THOUSAND MILES – kid laroi
Popular on Variety
Laroi split from Braun’s SB Projects last year after just three months on the roster. The Australian singer later signed with Adam Leber of Rebel Management, who still represents Laroi alongside clients like Lil Nas X and Labrinth.
In a cover story, Billboard reported the split was amicable with Braun adding, “Laroi is a brilliant artist, and I wish him and his family nothing but the best. I’m proud of the historic success we had together in our short time — I am rooting for him always, and he knows that.”
Indeed, after connecting with sources on both sides, it appears Braun was in on the stunt and gave his blessing to Laroi.
What broke up Braun and Laroi originally? Billboard cited a source close to the situation saying, “after Braun made ‘a promise’ that he would be directly involved with Laroi… there was not enough participation from him, and Laroi had ‘significant problems’” with other members of the SB Projects team, whom he felt were “making decisions without consulting him.”
Clearly Laroi is in charge of his own actions now, as this TikTok stunt proves. And social media teases have also been a part of his recent past — for instance “Stay” was first buzzed about thanks to an Instagram post with HYBE’s own Bang Si-Hyuk.
Amid the changing dynamics of the music business, Braun has himself become a polarizing figure. In an interview with Variety last June, Braun responded to the criticism he received during his very public fallout with Taylor Swift, saying: “I think when you’re successful, you are misunderstood. Success is a game of chess, and sometimes on that chessboard, people don’t see what you’re doing until four or five moves in. There’s always going to be misconceptions because people want to see things the way they want to see them. But it would be really nice if we all give each other a little bit of grace.”