States fighting Live Nation’s alleged monopolistic practices highlighted incendiary internal messages Wednesday as they consider whether to continue their antitrust trial against the entertainment giant and its Ticketmaster subsidiary.
The messages, exchanged on Slack between late 2021 and early 2023, show employee Ben Baker calling customers “so stupid” and bragging, “I’m robbing them blind, baby,” according to court filings from government lawyers. The filings were released in the public court record in Manhattan federal court, where the week-old trial is underway.
“These statements are candid, internal messages in which Ben Baker calls fans ‘so stupid,’ explains that he ‘gouges’ them, and brags that Live Nation is ‘robbing them blind, baby,’” the states and federal government wrote in their submission to Judge Arun Subramanian.
Baker, who was a regional director of ticketing for a Florida amphitheater at the time, has since been promoted to head of ticketing for Venue Nation, with responsibilities across all Live Nation venues.
The messages surfaced during discussions about VIP access pricing at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa. Baker wrote that the prices are “outrageous,” that “these people are so stupid,” and that “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them” before adding, “BAHAHAHAHAHA.”
Live Nation is seeking to disqualify the exhibits, arguing they represent “off-the-cuff banter, not policy” between two personal friends. The company maintains the messages do not relate to the antitrust claims and involve only “passing references to non-ticket ancillary products” like VIP club access or parking.
“Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly,” the company said in a statement, adding the exchange “from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate.”
The trial’s future is uncertain after the federal government announced this week it is settling with Live Nation, a deal that would give competitors some access to currently excluded ticket sales. More than two dozen states have asked to scrap the ongoing trial and select a new jury, while the current jury was told to stay home this week with the expectation the trial would resume Monday.
Judge Subramanian encouraged settlement talks this week, and a states’ lawyer signaled the trial is likely to resume, noting the judge’s ruling on whether the Slack messages can be shown to the jury will impact which witnesses the states call to testify as they “prepare to resume trial next week.”