Scooter Braun Files Petition of Arbitration Against Former Associate

Scooter Braun is filing for arbitration.

The 39-year-old manager of acts like Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato is involved in a legal dispute with a former associate over a private equity fund, Billboard reported Thursday (June 3).

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Peter Comisar, who spent two decades at Goldman Sachs and became vice chairman of investment banking at Guggenheim Securities, filed a lawsuit this week, complaining that Scooter and business manager David Bolno recruited him to help expand their business ventures in 2016 with a private equity firm.

According to the complaint, he agreed based on a three year budget and Scooter‘s personal investment in the fund, which would be called SCOPE Capital Management, and he says there were written agreements. However, he alleges that in April 2018, Scooter refused financial commitments and stopped funding everything including Peter‘s salary.

“Bolno, completely unrepentant, explained to Comisar that Braun never really believed he would have to perform and, brazenly, told him that ‘people in the entertainment industry do not honor their contractual agreements.’ Bolno made clear that he and Braun believed that Braun was free to renege on his commitments with impunity and without consequences and would wreak havoc upon Comisar if he chose to pursue Braun on his commitments.”

He claims he was threatened with a smear campaign, including falsely being fired from Goldman Sachs, and racism as reasoning for his removal.

“Braun warned that this storyline could well destroy Comisar‘s career. The racism claim was entirely fabricated and without basis. The untoward intimidation strategy of Braun and Bolno hatched in September 2018 failed. Comisar has remained a value-added Board member and steward of investors’ capital in this portfolio company during the two and one-half years that have passed since the attempted smear.”

The complaint asserts causes of action of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breaches of contract while also demanding $200 million in damages.

“When it came to fund-raising, Braun turned out to be a sheep in wolf’s clothing, ultimately admitting to Comisar that despite his bravado, asking people to invest made him ‘uncomfortable’ and he therefore refused to fully engage in the fund-raising efforts. In other words, as Comisar ultimately found out when Braun pulled out entirely, Braun had never intended to be fully engaged as he had promised Comisar he would.”

Scooter filed his own petition demanding arbitration for “judicial intervention to end Peter’s unlawful, extortionate and opportunistic threats against him.”

He is objecting to “unlawful, extortionate and opportunistic threats,” calling them a “baseless” effort to derail the sale of his holding company, Ithaca.

The petition says “a clear arbitration provision” was in place but that Peter “repudiated that contractual obligation by threatening to sue Braun in court and thereby make public his unfounded allegations,” going on to say it “was a transparent (and unsuccessful) threat by Comisar to derail Ithaca’s sale and thereby hold Braun and Ithaca hostage unless they cave into Comisar’s extortionate demands. Those tactics proved flawed, as Braun refuses to be extorted and the sale of Ithaca has already closed. Further, like Braun, HYBE sees Comisar’s baseless allegations for what they are: an attempt by a failure and opportunist to make a quick buck off someone else’s hard work”

“Because Comisar’s claims are baseless and, by his actions, Comisar has made it clear that he understands the only conceivable leverage he has is the threat his baseless claims pose rather than their actual legal merit, Braun seeks an order from this Court compelling Comisar to arbitration. That is clearly where Comisar’s meritless claims belong and an arbitrator will swiftly and definitely resolve them, leaving no further opportunity for Comisar to attempt to extort Braun,” the petition goes on to say.

For more information, head to Complex.com.

At the same time, Scooter Braun is involved in a massive project involving BTS‘ management company.