LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Singer Justin Bieber (L) and producer Scooter Braun arrive at the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" held at Nokia Theater L.A. Live on February 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Paramount PicturesScooter Braun, superstar manager and Schoolboy Records boss, went on a mini Twitter tirade following Wednesday night’s Grammy Awards nominations announcement.
Writing to his 2 million-plus followers, the 31-year-old Braun defended his No. 1 client Justin Bieber, who received no Grammy nominations. “I just plain DISAGREE,” he tweeted. “The kid deserved it. Grammy board u blew it on this one.”
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Bieber’s third album, Believe, was released in June and has spawned a pair of top 10 singles — “Boyfriend” and “As Long as You Love Me,” the latter performed on The X Factor earlier in the evening — and another, “Beauty and the Beat,” featuring Nicki Minaj, still building.
Perhaps making the snub sting even more, the 18-year-old pop phenom recently swept the American Music Awards, where he won artist of the year, favorite pop/rock male artist and favorite pop/rock album. The November show, aired on ABC, is a fan-voted event. The Grammy Awards, airing Feb. 10 on CBS, are decided by committees of industry peers.
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And that just might be the invisible blockade for Bieber who, to paraphrase Britney Spears, is in that sometimes difficult-to-navigate phase of no longer a boy and not yet a man. Braun in a way acknowledged this fact in a subsequent tweet, where he wrote: “The hardest thing to do is transition, keep the train moving. The kid delivered. Huge successful album, sold out tour, and won people over… this time he deserved to be recognized.”
life is long, with many ups and downs, but we get to keep going, everyday brings a new opportunity. NOTHING GREAT EVER CAME EASY.
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) December 6, 2012
Braun, an advocate of myriad causes, in particular his brother Adam’s Pencils of Promise charity, is not one to end a rant on a negative note, however. After congratulating “all those nominated,” including one of his own label’s acts, Carly Rae Jepsen, Braun addressed the scores of Beliebers directly, leaving the fans with a challenge that they’ll no doubt meet and overcome: “Looks like we get to stay the underdog a little longer.”
Twitter: @THRMusic
