Live Nation employee mocks customers as so stupid in internal messages released in court case
NEW YORK (AP) — Incendiary internal messages in which a Live Nation employee mocked customers as “so stupid” and said the company was “robbing them blind, baby” have been made public as more than two dozen states decide whether to continue operations. antitrust case against the entertainment giant and its subsidiary Ticketmaster.
The messages, dating from late 2021 to early 2023 on the online business messaging platform Slack, were highlighted in a filing released in public court records by government lawyers late Wednesday. Lawyers insist the messages should be used as evidence in a week-long trial against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in Manhattan federal court.
At the hearing, attorneys for the federal government, 39 states and the District of Columbia named Live Nation and Ticketmaster as defendants. suppresses competition and raises prices for fans Through threats, retaliation and other tactics to “stifle competition” by controlling nearly every aspect of the industry, from concert promotion to ticket sales. Companies insist that artists, sports teams and venues set prices and decide how tickets will be sold.
Government attorneys wrote that the depositions should be part of the trial because they are “candid, internal messages in which Ben Baker called fans ‘so stupid,’ declared that he was ‘gouging’ them, and boasted that Live Nation was ‘ripping them off blind, baby.'”
In a submission to Judge Arun Subramanian, attorneys said Baker made the statements while he was the regional ticketing manager for a major amphitheater in Florida, but has since been promoted to Venue Nation’s ticketing manager, with responsibilities for all of Live Nation’s venues.
They said employees discussed the price of access to the VIP area of a show at Live Nation’s MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater in Tampa. “BAHAHAHAHAHA,” they wrote, after Baker wrote that the prices were “incredible,” “these people are so stupid,” and “I almost feel bad for taking advantage of them.”
Live Nation is asking for the exhibits to be disqualified from the hearing, saying the messages between two personal friends who do not work together reflect “instant banter, not political.”
The company’s lawyers wrote that the exhibits were not related to the antitrust claims. He said employees made passing references to non-ticket ancillary products such as VIP club access, premium parking or lawn chair rentals sold to concertgoers at two amphitheatres in Florida and Virginia.
But attorneys for the plaintiff states and the U.S. government wrote that “excessive prices for ancillary services are directly related to their claims” and that “ancillary services are an important way for Live Nation to monetize its monopoly position in the amphitheater market.”
In a statement Thursday, the company said Slack’s “change from an assistant employee to a friend certainly does not reflect our values or the way we work.”
The company added: “Since this was a private Slack message, management learned about it when the public did and will investigate the matter immediately.”
Controversy over the exhibits emerged after Bloomberg News, The New York Times and MLex and Inner City Press, which covers legal and regulatory issues, called for the exhibits to be published.
The status of the hearing remains unclear after the federal government announced this week that it had reached an agreement with Live Nation that would give Live Nation’s competitors access to ticket sales from which they are currently excluded.
Lawyers from more than two dozen states have requested that the ongoing trial be canceled and a new jury be selected in the coming weeks. The jury, which began hearing evidence last week, was told to stay home this week in anticipation of the trial continuing on Monday.
Subramanian, meanwhile, encouraged the states’ and Live Nation’s lawyers to negotiate this week before telling him late Friday whether a deal had been reached.
Although the parties have not spoken publicly about the progress of any negotiations, an attorney for Live Nation said at a hearing Tuesday that there is no realistic chance of reaching a quick agreement with all states.
In a letter to the judge on Thursday, the state’s attorney signaled that the trial would likely go ahead, saying the judge would have to decide whether to show the Slack message exhibits to the jury because his decision would have a “material impact” on which states would call witnesses to testify as the states “prepare to restart the trial next week.”
