https://www.tumblr.com/twopoppies/814967419963572224/some-of-those-highlighted-parts-sound-exactly-like?source=share
Gina, why do you think harry is still with him?
To answer that, we need to start at the beginning and look back to 2013 when Jeffrey Azoff first started showing up around Harry. By the end of 2012, it was clear that the label had singled Harry out as the one they would throw their resources at. The PR relationship with T*ylor was the first really obvious sign of that. The Azoffs must have been sniffing around at least by then.
Harry is 18/19 years old, clearly unhappy at the time, stifled by the closet closing in, overworked, probably not making the money he should have been (they were all probably being ripped off at the time), and in came Irving and Jeff, who essentially began grooming him to see them as his saviors.
They probably promised him everything under the sun to sign with them. Given the leak of Don't Let Me Go in mid-2013, it's pretty obvious the label was already testing the idea of him going solo. The band renewed their contract with Syco in September of 2013, and there must have been some major negotiating, as they reportedly went from a £1M record deal split among the five of them to £10M per member. I'd imagine the Azoffs were heavily involved at that time – think about how impressive that must have looked to five kids who were barely out of their teens (Harry was actually still 19). The Azoffs are saviors.
By the next year, in retrospect, we know there were rumblings about not renewing past 2015. The Azoffs are indoctrinating Harry to see how every decision they make, every connection they provide for him, and every piece of advice they give moves his life and career forward in a better direction (no pun intended). He has no real reason to doubt them.
People like the Azoffs find your weaknesses and exploit them. Even if people warned Harry about Irving, his lived experience is that they treat him like family. Jeff is his best friend. He trusts them. Besides that, who better to have on your side in a complicated contract negotiation with Sony Music than the industry's most successful and feared agent?
And we're only up to 2016.
I would guess that the cracks in their support didn't become clear until the Holivia debacle was well underway. Prior to that, they helped launch his solo career with huge fanfare. Not always perfect, but I'm sure they painted it as exactly what they had planned – it's a long-term plan, after all. And there were a lot of things beginning to loosen up around him, more freedom to express his sexuality, freedom to make the kind of music he wanted to make with the people he wanted to make it with, time to recover between albums, certainly a lot more money being made.
In order to not make this 50 pages long, let me just say that while Harry may have fulfilled his contract with Sony, I believe the Azoffs still own him, and however he's tangled up with them, it's just as complicated, if not more so.
Irving has his hands in every aspect of the music industry, and making money and retaining power are his only objectives. Harry has been incredibly profitable for him – not just as an artist, but as a brand. His nod of approval sells other artists to his rabid fandom. They started with Stevie Nicks (she's a legend, but making her cool to a new generation is never a bad thing), then King Princess, then Lizzo, then they tried with Meghan Trainor and Tate McRae. Not to mention all the times he acted as a billboard for Jeff's siblings' and friends' businesses.
He's not letting Harry go without a fight. My hope is that Harry (and Louis) have lawyers looking over their contracts and advising them in secret. The opinion of someone I know:
"The easiest way to explain it is that he is owned by Azoff, like most artists are owned by their labels. They negotiated for him more autonomy in his solo contract while locking him into a contract with them as managers. Since Harry was leaving such a shit situation with years of abuse, he thought they were his friends and had his best interest at heart. It’s obvious that he has negotiated some freedoms in his management, but he may never get completely free of them."
Sorry this is so long. It's just so infuriating to think about. And I hate that the outward vision of huge success hides what likely are years of manipulation.
Also, just to be clear, this is my interpretation of things. I don't know any of this for a fact. Other people may see it differently.
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