Taylor Swift said Thursday that she may not perform at the American Music Awards and may have to put other projects including a forthcoming Netflix documentary on hold because the men who own her old recordings won’t allow her to play her songs.
“Right now my performance at the AMAs, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November 2020 are a question mark,” Swift said on Twitter and Instagram.
Swift said she had planned to play a medley of her hits when she’s named Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards on Nov. 24, but the men who own the music, Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, are calling the television performance an illegal re-recording.
“I just want to be able to perform MY OWN music. That’s it,” Swift said. “I’ve tried to work out this out privately through my team but have not been able to resolve anything.”
The 29-year-old singer-songwriter has loudly spoken out against her old master recordings falling into the hands of the music manager Braun, who bought them by acquiring Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group in June. Swift has used the sale and its aftermath to publicly advocate for the rights of artists and to further a feud with the two men.
Swift said in the posts that Borchetta has told her he will allow the projects to go forward if she drops plans to record copycat versions of her older songs next year, which Swift says she plans to do and has the legal right to, and if she stops her public trashing of the two men.
“The message being sent to me is very clear,” Swift said. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished.”
Messages seeking comment sent to representatives for Braun, Borchetta and the AMAs were not immediately returned.
Swift called on her legion of fans to put pressure on Braun and Borchetta to allow her performance and other projects to go forward.
That ignited social media, with the hashtags “IStandWithTaylor” and “FreeTaylor” trending worldwide on Twitter.
She also urged her fellow artists, some of whom include Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber who are managed by Braun, to speak out and speak to him.
Swift said she’s especially asking for help from the Carlyle Group, the private equity firm that financed the sale.
The Netflix documentary, which has chronicled the last few years of her life, was previously unannounced.
“This isn’t the way I planned on telling you this news,” Swift said.