Lady Gaga’s manager, Troy Carter, is parting ways with the “Applause” singer because he wants to focus on his growing tech portfolio instead of handling the high-maintenance pop star, sources told Page Six.
Carter and Gaga reportedly split amicably over “creative differences,” but music industry insiders tell us the decision came down to Carter being tired of managing the over-the-top superstar.
“Troy didn’t want to deal with the minutiae of being a day-to-day manager,” a source said. “He’s got his hands deeper into Silicon Valley than the music biz.” But several other sources stressed to us that the breakup was a “mutual decision.”
One insider knowledgable about the split also told us that Gaga’s relationship with Vincent Herbert — who produces her albums for his Streamline Records — is also now in jeopardy. “Vincent is taking a back seat,” a souce said. “At this point, she’s looking to take her career into her own hands and not have anyone involved.” The insider added: “If you ask Gaga who manages her now, she’ll say, ‘Gaga.’ ”
But others close to Gaga say her relationship with Herbert is firmly intact, and “she has two more albums under contract with him.”
Carter’s sudden departure comes a week before Gaga’s new album, “Artpop,” is due.
Since beginning to work with her in 2007, Carter has become a Silicon Valley darling as an early investor in startups including Uber and Spotify. He’s also co-founder of social networking site Backplane, with Google’s Eric Schmidt as an investor.
A source said Carter — who still manages John Legend and boy band Mindless Behavior through his Atom Factory firm — “voiced his opinion about Gaga’s creative direction and didn’t care if she disagreed” because he was “still going to get paid anyway” due to the way his contract was structured. Carter was brought to Gaga by Herbert after working for Bad Boy Records and Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment.
Gaga, whose rep declined to comment, was tearily emotional while performing at the recent YouTube Awards. Carter declined to comment.