Live Nation directors brag about “robbing fans blind” in unearthed DMs
Two directors of the entertainment giant joked that their buyers are “stupid” in a 2022 Slack exchange
Two Live Nation directors have come under fire for bragging about “robbing fans blind” in a 2022 message exchange, which was published by Bloomberg on March 12.
It comes just days after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and Live Nation reached a settlement in a federal antitrust lawsuit that saw the entertainment giant accused of monopolising the live events industry.
The trial lasted just one week, during which representatives for Live Nation moved to omit certain Slack exchanges from being used as evidence to the jury.
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Several publications petitioned a New York judge to release those messages, which were then published yesterday by Bloomberg, showing an exchange between regional ticketing directors Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold.
In the messages, Baker and Weinhold joked about extortionate fees charged to fans, with Baker saying that he “gouges them” on ancillary fees, which are additional costs not included in the base price of tickets.
“These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them BAHAHAHAHAHA,” Baker wrote in one message. “[I charged] $50 to park in the grass [and] $60 for closer grass,” he said in another. “Robbing them blind baby, that’s how we do it.”
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According to Bloomberg, Baker is now head of ticketing for an arm of Live Nation that is responsible for 150 amphitheatres, while Weinhold is now a senior director in the ticketing department. Baker was set to testify at the trial last week.
Responding to the message exchange, Live Nation insists that they were “off-the-cuff banter, not policy, decision-making, or facts of consequence,” and were made by “one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate.”
Read the uncensored messages here.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X
