Scooter Braun: The Lie I Chased Almost Broke Me... You’re Probably Chasing It Too!

Steven Bartlett (0:00)

There's parts of your life where there's these big question marks that I'm hoping you can answer for me.

Scooter Braun (0:04)

Okay.

Steven Bartlett (0:05)

But I want the full truth.

Scooter Braun (0:07)

Now I'm nervous.

Steven Bartlett (0:08)

Scooter Braun is the man behind some of the biggest stars in the music industry.

SPEAKER_3 (0:12)

And he built one of the most disruptive entertainment empires on the planet.

Scooter Braun (0:16)

I've never really said this out loud until right now. At this age, I feel a lot of guilt because I worked with so many young artists, and we were all kids moving so fast, and we all wanted to succeed so bad. And it wasn't until I was 40 years old doing some intense therapy that I realized, I was so driven by the fear that I wouldn't be enough, so let's go back. As a kid growing up, I wanted to prove that I could be more than the privilege I was born with, and I created this character, Scooter, because I didn't think Scott could achieve these things. That mask made me absolutely relentless, faking it till I make it. I had no right convincing Justin and his mom to be on the first plane they had ever been on and meet me.

Steven Bartlett (0:54)

So what were they betting on?

Scooter Braun (0:56)

My ignorance. But it was also realizing that so much of insecurity drives us and makes us great. Like now that I'm here, I can't fail because then everyone will see that I shouldn't be here. So let's go for it. And then we had such extreme success. The whole world thought I was crushing it, but I built this mask so big, I didn't realize how far away I had gotten from Scott. So here I am, the top of my game, I wanted to kill myself. I went to a very dark place, and I broke down crying, because I spent so much time trying to impress people who didn't love me, instead of realizing how many people already did.

And I was so desperate to do the thing I had never done before.

Steven Bartlett (1:38)

What was that? Scooter, when I look at your life, and I look at the things you've achieved, so much of it makes sense, but then there's these other parts of your life where there's these big question marks that I'm hoping you can answer for me. And maybe the earliest question mark that remains in my head is, what is that drives you? Because from an exceedingly young age, there was this dog in you. There was something, for me, when I was going through the research, it looked like a chip on your shoulder, or something to prove to someone. And so that's really where I wanted to start. I want to understand your earliest context, so I can understand the cauldron that Scooter was shaped in, and in the way that that made the boy turn to a man. Big question, but that's the...

Scooter Braun (2:32)

The starter?

Steven Bartlett (2:33)

The burning question in my head.

Scooter Braun (2:35)

You know, it's funny, because you started by asking Scooter, what drives you? And it took me a long time to figure out as an adult that it was actually Scott, my real name.

That was the real driver. And I really created this guy, Scooter, when I was an adult. Because I didn't think Scott could achieve these things. So I almost like created a mask. And it wasn't until I was 40 years old, doing some intense therapy, that I fell in love with my name again and realized the answer to your question. Which is, part of it was shame of why with my family's background am I getting all this privilege? My father's a refugee from Hungary. My mother, her dad died when she was 11 And her mother struggled to raise them with family help in the Catskill Mountains. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. And here I am, first generation, born in America. And I wanted to prove that I could be more than the privilege I was born with. And so I had that chip on my shoulder. I wanted to prove my value. I wanted to prove I was worthy of this.

Steven Bartlett (3:45)

Who's told you you had to?

Scooter Braun (3:47)

No one. I think, you know, as a kid growing up, I read it that way because, you know, you're hearing the stories of the Holocaust. And my dad, every night before he put me and my brother to bed, would say, hey, boys, you're different. You're special. I hold you to a higher standard every night before we went to bed. And we started to really believe him of, like, we need to hold ourselves to this higher standard. We need to do more.