Kanye West Leaves Scooter Braun For Day-To-Day Management; Split Reportedly Amicable

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images – Kanye West

Following a somewhat sudden return to Twitter and the dropping of longtime co-manager Izzy Zivkovic, Kanye West has left prominent artist shepherd Scooter Braun, at least for day-to-day management, a source close to the artist confirmed to Pollstar. 

Insiders have told publications including Variety and TMZ that Kanye West wants all business conducted through his Yeezy organization and, while the parting of ways was reportedly amicable, Variety says Braun’s suggestion to bring his services in-house were ultimately turned down.

However, multiple reports have stated Braun will continue to work with West in some capacity.

While West is unique in his status as both a legendary producer and MC, as well as husband of megastar socialite Kim Kardashian, the trend does mirror that of other superstars such as Beyonce and Bruno Mars who have taken their management in-house rather than by traditional artist management firms who shepherd multiple clients.

West has made a very public and often entertaining return to Twitter, with announcements of five albums coming out between May and June, including with Nas, Kid Cudi as well as at least one solo release.

This comes after his 2016 “Saint Pablo Tour” was abruptly canceled after erratic performances in California, during which he would go on tirades on stage about Donald Trump, among other things and leave early.

However, the tour’s accompanying album, The Life of Pablo, was acclaimed by fans and critics alike, and the tour still had great run and sold out numerous arenas, good to put it at No. 29 on Pollstar’s 2016 Year End Top 100 Tours with just under $53 million grossed. That run included an incredible six shows at the Forum in Inglewood, which sold out a combined 97,356 tickets and grossed just shy of $8.3 million. The final night of that run was cut short, as near the very end of the set, Yeezy said his voice was too hoarse to continue.

In February, insurance company Lloyd’s of London settled a $10 million lawsuit filed by West’s camp in which the artist said the company failed to reimburse him for the canceled dates and his subsequent hospitalization. Terms were not disclosed but attorney for West’s Very Good Touring, Howard King told Rolling Stone “the dispute has been amicably resolved.”

The suit alleged breach of contract and sought punitive damages and attorney fees beyond the $9.8 million in concert losses. In a countersuit, Lloyd’s alleged it discovered “substantial irregularities in Mr. West’s medical history,” which implied the star may have run afoul of various insurance policy exclusions regarding preexisting conditions.

The split but with Braun comes just weeks after West split with longtime manager Izzy Zivkovic, who had been his official rep since 2010 but whose history with West goes back further. Zivkovic had been splitting the duties with Braun’s SB Projects but now that relationship appears to be mostly over as well.

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However, another Braun-managed superstar, Ariana Grande, had left SB for a brief period with the tabloid press going bonkers over social media comments between her and fellow SB client Justin Bieber. She returned officially about seven months later and appears to be closer than ever to the manager, who spoke at Pollstar Live! in February about his involvement with the One Love Manchester benefit.

See: How To Change The World with Jon Bon Jovi, Scooter Braun, Sharon Osbourne, Jimmy Jam 

Braun shared what it was like to be involved in putting on the “One Love Manchester” benefit just a few weeks after the May 22 bombing at Grande’s Manchester Arena concert. He noted that after she initially said she couldn’t imagine continuing on tour, she was on board for the benefit, saying, “I want to be who I say I am. I want to do something,” Braun said.