Taylor Swift fans have declared ‘karma is a seat on the sideline’ after watching their idol exact the ultimate revenge on longtime nemesis Scooter Braun.
The singer had the time of her life watching the New York Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs in game four of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
Taylor, who was joined by best friends Este and Alana Haim, in matching t-shirts, was seen screaming along to the tense courtside action and dancing and laughing in her VIP, courtside seat.
Scooter though was seated five rows behind, at the guardrail. The music mogul put on a much more subdued display as he watched the game with girlfriend Sydney Sweeney.
Scooter, who was born and brought up in New York, is a life-long Knicks fan and had posted about how excited he was for the game ahead of time.
He was most likely not expecting to see Taylor courtside, years after their feud over the singer’s master recording rights began.
After the win he captioned a video of his emotional reaction with a not so subtle reference to ‘real’ fans: ‘No words. Thank you. I love these Knicks!!!! Real ones knows what this means to us. One more!’ he wrote.
Taylor Swift fans have declared ‘karma is a seat on the sideline’ after watching their idol exact the ultimate revenge on Scooter Braun, pictured five rows back with girlfriend Sydney Sweeney
Taylor was seen dancing and laughing in her VIP courtside seat. Scooter though was seated six rows behind with girlfriend Sydney Sweeney
Fans were delighted to see the visual reputation of the two’s relationship, with one declaring: ‘Karma is a seat on the sideline.’
Another fan posted a supercut of a giddy Taylor having the time of her life as they wrote: ‘I don’t care that it was the best comeback in NBA finals history, the best part of tonight was watching Taylor Swift courtside having the time of her life WHILE SCOOTER BRAUN IS SITTING 6 ROWS BEHIND HER.’
‘Right where he belongs ; always behind her and never ahead of her !!’ another agreed.
‘Taylor in Stevie Knicks courtside, Scooter & Sydney three rows back behind a barricade… even the arena said stay away from her.’
Braun’s feud with Swift erupted in 2019, when he purchased the master recordings to her first six studio albums, including her self-titled debut, Fearless, Speak Now, her crossover mega-hit Red, and her first two full-blown pop albums, 1989 and Reputation.
Technically, Braun obtained the records by simply purchasing Swift’s original label, Big Machine Records, which she had already left in favor of the Universal Music Group–owned Republic Records, which released 2019’s Lover and all of her subsequent albums.
After going public about the sale, Swift claimed that she had previously asked Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta to let her buy her master recordings from the label, but she claimed he would only allow her to do so on wildly unfavorable terms.
According to the singer–songwriter, Borchetta said she would have to stay with the label and release one new album with it in exchange for the rights to one album at a time, starting with her earliest recordings.
Taylor, who was joined by best friends Este and Alana Haim, in matching t-shirts, was seen screaming along to the tense courtside action
The singer had the time of her life watching the New York Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs in in Game four of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden
Fans were delighted to see the visual reputation of the two’s relationship, with one declaring: ‘Karma is a seat on the sideline’
The arrangement would have slowed her ability to consolidate her master recordings, stretching the process across years, if not decades, depending on how prolific Swift could be, and would have left any new albums she recorded under the agreement in Big Machine Records’ control.
Borchetta subsequently claimed that Swift had turned down an offer to buy back her masters, though he didn’t clarify if the offer was the same one that she had described.
Braun later sold the recording to the private equity company Shamrock Holdings in 2020, on the stipulation that he continue to profit from them.
In order to take back control of her music – and to maximize her profit on it – Swift launched a series of rerecorded albums, starting with her second, Fearless.
The albums, which were subtitled ‘Taylor’s Version,’ were largely note-for-note recreations of her original versions, also included copious bonus tracks and new recordings of tunes left off the original releases.
Another fan posted a supercut of a giddy Taylor having the time of her life as they wrote: ‘The best part of tonight was watching Taylor Swift courtside having the time of her life’
Scooter, who was born and bought up in New York, is a life-long Knicks fan, was most likely not expecting to see Taylor courtside
She urged her fans to purchase and stream the new versions of her music, rather than the original recordings, as she owned the masters for the ‘Taylor’s Version’ series.
But after releasing blockbuster versions of four of her first six albums, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989, Swift revealed in May 2025 that she had come to a deal with Shamrock – which she described as fair – to buy back her master recordings.
Taylor released an emotional statement confirming the purchase, happily declaring: ‘All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me… To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it.’
The singer later revealed that she had completed rerecording her self-titled debut, but she was uncertain about releasing it.
However, she had only completed a fraction of her Reputation recordings, and the project may never see the light of day now that the original master recordings are generating profit for her.
