Scooter Braun On Why So Many Young Artists Experience Addiction And “Difficulty”

For many years, it’s been incredibly common to see child stars navigate personal difficulties as they get older in the public eye.

It’s happened with some of the best-known former-child-stars in Hollywood: Lindsay Lohan, Daniel Radcliffe, Demi Lovato, and Drew Barrymore have all talked openly about dealing with addiction or mental health struggles as they navigated fame. Fortunately, though, these stars have gone on to live happy and healthy lives, which, as we know, sadly isn’t the way things have played out for others.

Scooter managed Justin for 15 years, and in that time, it’s no secret that JB faced some difficulties, having previously opened up about using drugs as a “numbing agent to just continue to get through” at the height of his fame. In 2014, a then-19-year-old Justin was memorably arrested for driving under the influence in Miami after being caught street racing.

Now, during an appearance on this week’s episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast, Scooter was asked about the “difficulty” at this point in Justin’s life, and why fame at a young age can be incredibly “confusing” for child stars as they get older. Notably, the host, Steven Bartlett, used the late Liam Payne as an example, asking why so many young artists are impacted by addiction, pain, and in some cases, tragedy.

“I feel a lot of guilt. I feel a lot of guilt because I worked with so many young artists, and I hadn’t taken the time to look at myself or do the therapy myself until I was older,” Scooter replied, reflecting on his position as a manager to young artists in the 2010s. “I didn’t understand at 25 years old, at 27, at 30, that they each were coming from very unique backgrounds, of their own stuff with their own families, and their own childhood, and growing up this way…and being judged by the whole world at a very young age.”

After considering his role in the cycle, Scooter put child stars’ struggles down to two things: the first being that “human beings are not made to be worshiped.”

“When we worship human beings, it changes something within us, it messes us up a little bit, because that’s not what we’re built for, and I think that can be very confusing,” he explained. “Being able to transcend the childhood of people cheering your name and everything else at that level, and get to the place where the artists I’ve worked with are, where they are in healthy relationships and with their families, and still working through stuff… I think it’s a testament to their strength.”

The second aspect that Scooter said may have played a role is the lack of time put into taking care of child stars’ mental well-being. “I understand the importance now of really putting in the time to make sure mental health is addressed, and that we have an outlet to speak to someone outside of the crew,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that I learned within myself that I wish I knew back then.”

Talking more specifically about Liam — who died last October after previously speaking about battling drug and alcohol addiction and suicidal thoughts during his post-One Direction career — Scooter recalled meeting the 1D boys “before they really blew up.”

“I met Liam back then, and I met the excited young kid with the voice. Yet, each one of them has had a different experience,” he said, referring to Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. “Each one of them has had a different story of perseverance and tragedy. And that’s the thing.”