Pop manager Scooter Braun on Justin Bieber: “I was not going to give up on him, I was not going to let him die”

As well as the ‘Purpose’ singer, Braun also manages Ariana Grande and Carly Rae Jepsen

Pop manager Scooter Braun has discussed his working relationship with his client Justin Bieber, revealing that he feared Bieber might die during his period of turmoil in 2013-14.

Bieber was frequently in the public eye during that period, with issues including arrests, controversial videos and a charge for assault and dangerous driving after he crashed his quad bike into a minivan near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario.

Braun, who has been Bieber’s manager since the early days of his career, has previously spoken about how he “failed” the star when he was in a “dark place” during that period. Speaking to The Guardian for a new interview, the manager looked back on those days again – with the turning point coming as Bieber “looked me in the eye and said: ‘I’m making a change.’”

While he wouldn’t be drawn on what went wrong for Bieber in the first place, Braun did reveal that he feared that Bieber was going to die during that time period. “I was not going to give up on him, I was not going to let him die, I was not going to put him in that position of: ‘Oh, let’s just keep him working.’”

“At the end of the day, I would choose this result over what I was dealing with, a thousand times over,” Braun said about Bieber’s eventual success with getting his career back on track and turning to Christianity. “The best thing that happened to Justin Bieber is that he found God. He was able to remove himself from being worshipped, and realise he’s in service to others. Because I don’t think human beings are built to be worshipped.”

Last weekend, Ariana Grande – who is also managed by Braun – took to Twitter to defend him following fan comments about her recent engagement to Pete Davidson.