Wayne is taking Taylor Swift’s side in a public feud with label head Scott Borchetta

Country singer Jimmy Wayne is speaking out against Scott Borchetta following Taylor Swift’s online public blast about the label head on Sunday (June 30th). Wayne, who was signed to Big Machine’s sister label Valory Music Co from 2006-2010, has some a strong dislike for his former “best friend.”

“BREAKING: .@taylorswift13 pens a letter about #ScottBorchetta, the same label prez who dropped me, his ‘BEST FRIEND’ from .@BigMachine (via email) when I was walking halfway across America to raise awareness for innocent #foster #children,” he shares.

He continues, “I listened somberly as [my management team] Jenny Bohler and Mike Kraski informed me that my friend #ScottBorchetta had dropped me.”

In a third tweet, he reveals, “Somebody has said, ‘Money doesn’t change people; it exposes them.’ I was seeing the truth of that statement revealed more and more every day in the music business.”

https://twitter.com/JimmyWayne/status/1145472838188580864

https://twitter.com/JimmyWayne/status/1145473163272302592

These tweets are excepts from Wayne’s three-time New York Times bestselling memoir, Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way, in which he shares his story of being a former foster kid who found success as a singer/songwriter. Wayne was dropped from the label in January 2010 via email by Borchetta as he set on a 1660 mile solo hike from Nashville, TN to Phoenix, AZ to raise awareness about homeless youth and foster kids. Dubbed the “Meet Me Halfway” campaign, Wayne hiked 25 per day as he wandered off the walk only to perform concerts. The book was inspired by the eight month trek.

In a tweet that’s since been deleted, Wayne goes on to say that his masters are locked up, but he can re-record those songs as the label only owns the master recordings, not the songs themselves. He also states that Borchetta “forced me to record” some of the songs, even using “demos to assemble albums,” and that he “doesn’t care about those shitty recordings.”

Country superstar Toby Keith co-founded Big Machine with Borchetta in 2005, but dropped his affiliation in 2006, He remained an equity shareholder until 2014. Wayne shared that Keith wasn’t part of the buyout.

“He got a percentage of @BigMachine and then parted company. Fortunately for him he didn’t take a buyout.”

Wayne’s hits include “Stay Gone,” “Paper Angels,” “I Love You This Much” and “Do You Believe Me Now,” which earned BMI’s prestigious Million-Air Award for receiving one million radio spins in America. He’s played the Grand Ole Opry more than 200 times and recorded “Sara Smile” with rock ‘n roll Hall of Fame duo Daryl Hall and John Oates. In 2012, Wayne helped get legislative bills passed extending the age of foster care to 21 in California, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Ohio.