NEW YORK, NY – JULY 27: Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin are seen shopping in TriBeCa on July 27, 2018 in New York, New York. (Photo by Alessio Botticelli/GC Images)

 

Hoo, boy. Here we go again.

In the last week or so, the Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun feud has divided Hollywood, with everyone from Cara Delevingne to Halsey to Justin Bieber getting involved.

For his part, Bieber spoke out in defence of Braun, his long-time manager, who “devastated” Swift by purchasing her entire back catalogue of music.

Swift alleged Braun has “bullied” her for years, using as an example how he and Bieber antagonised Swift when she was feuding with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (the rapper is also Braun’s client). In case you’ve forgotten, Bieber posted a screenshot of himself on a FaceTime call with Braun and West, captioning the post “Taylor Swift what up”.

In a post directed at Taylor this week, Justin apologised for his immaturity but claimed Braun had nothing to do with it.

“I would like to apologise for posting that hurtful Instagram post, at the time I thought it was funny but looking back it was distasteful and insensitive,” Justin said.

“I have to be honest though, it was my caption and post that I screenshotted [sic] of Scooter and Kanye that said “taylor swift what up” he didn’t have anything to do with it and it wasn’t even a part of the conversation.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Hey Taylor. First of all i would like to apologize for posting that hurtful instagram post, at the time i thought it was funny but looking back it was distasteful and insensitive.. I have to be honest though it was my caption and post that I screenshoted of scooter and Kanye that said “taylor swift what up” he didnt have anything to do with it and it wasnt even a part of the conversation in all actuality he was the person who told me not to joke like that.. Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you.! As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter. Anyway, One thing i know is both scooter and i love you. I feel like the only way to resolve conflict is through communication. So banter back and fourth online i dont believe solves anything. I’m sure Scooter and i would love to talk to you and resolve any conflict, pain or or any feelings that need to be addressed. Neither scooter or i have anything negative to say about you we truly want the best for you. I usually don’t rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone i loves character thats crossing a line..

A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

There’s just one issue with Bieber’s version of events, though. As an eagle-eyed Twitter user pointed out, Justin cannot have taken the screenshot himself, because otherwise he would be the small square, not the big square, on the screen.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

This indicates two things. One: someone on the other end of the call – Scooter or Kanye – took the screenshot and gave it to Justin to post. Two: Bieber is willing, it appears, to lie to protect Braun. Does that signal being loyal, or manipulated?