Swifties are taking their bad blood with Ticketmaster to a courtroom.
More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans have sued Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation, alleging "unlawful" anti-competitive conduct following a disastrous concert presale, according to CNN.
"Ticketmaster is a monopoly that is only interested in taking every dollar it can from a captive public," the lawsuit alleges.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ticketmaster held a presale event in November inviting "verified fans" who received a code to purchase tickets to Swift's Eras tour, but it was plagued by technical issues. Ticketmaster blamed this on a "staggering number of bot attacks" and "fans who didn't have codes" driving "unprecedented traffic" to the site. Due to "extraordinarily high demands" and "insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand," a general public sale was then canceled.
But the lawsuit alleges Ticketmaster "intentionally and purposely" misled fans by providing millions of presale codes knowing it "could not satisfy demands." Fans also allege Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly, as "no other venue can hold half as many people as the stadiums and venues working through Ticketmaster," so "Taylor Swift and other popular musicians have no choice but to work through" them, per The Hollywood Reporter. The suit seeks a $2,500 fine per violation.
Ticketmaster's botched presale led to increased scrutiny of the company and its merger with Live Nation, which is reportedly facing a DOJ antitrust investigation. Swift slammed Ticketmaster in November, saying it's "excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse."
-
Spaniards seeing red over bullfightingUnder the Radar Shock resignation of top matador is latest blow in culture war over tradition that increasingly divides Spain
-
Bailouts: Why Trump is rescuing ArgentinaFeature The White House approved a $20 billion currency swap with Argentina
-
James indictment: Trump’s retributionFeature Trump pursues charges against Letitia James in revenge for her civil fraud lawsuit
-
Taylor Swift’s Showgirl: Much glitter, little goldFeature Swift’s new album has broken records, but critics say she may have gotten herself creatively stuck
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
A Taylor Swift analysis, the digital-addiction solution plus what it means to be a gay Black artist — all in October booksThe Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Taylor’s Version’ by Stephanie Burt, ‘Enshittification’ by Cory Doctorow and ‘Minor Black Figures’ by Brandon Taylor
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
10 upcoming albums to stream during spooky seasonThe Week Recommends As fall arrives, check out new albums from Taylor Swift, Jeff Tweedy, the Lemonheads and more
-
The most notable records Taylor Swift has brokenIn Depth The pop star has cemented herself as one of the century's most popular artists
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
