NEW YORK — The head of Live Nation Entertainment became the central figure in a New York courtroom Thursday, taking the witness stand to defend his company’s market dominance while attorneys representing 33 states painted the concert industry leader as a monopolistic force that harms consumers.
Michael Rapino, who has served as CEO since the company’s inception two decades ago, appeared in court as part of an antitrust lawsuit initially filed by the U.S. Justice Department against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster division two years ago.
“I’m very proud,” Rapino declared when discussing how his organization transformed what he described as a scattered industry 20 years ago, creating a more organized system to serve performers and fans that competitors now attempt to copy. The company acquired Ticketmaster through a merger in 2010.
While federal authorities reached a settlement agreement last week that includes measures designed to boost competition and potentially reduce concert ticket costs, with six states joining that resolution, 33 states plus the District of Columbia have chosen to pursue their legal challenge.
State attorney Jeffrey Kessler spent the day questioning Rapino, attempting to demonstrate that the company eliminates rivals and inflates prices for music fans.
During one particularly tense exchange, Kessler referenced 2022 internal communications where a Live Nation ticketing executive called customers “so stupid” and bragged about “robbing them blind, baby” in messages to a colleague.
Rapino condemned the language as “disgusting” and “not the way we operate,” stating he only discovered these communications the previous week and intended “to deal with it this week.”
When Kessler pressed about potential disciplinary action, Rapino responded that his company typically chooses to “give employees a break” and noted that “I heard he’s apologized.”
Live Nation representatives have stated the company first became aware of these private messages when they surfaced in court documents last week. Company lawyers characterized the exchange as “off-the-cuff banter, not policy” between two employees who maintain a personal friendship.
Benjamin Baker, the employee who sent the messages and currently serves as head of ticketing for Venue Nation, which oversees the company’s amphitheater operations, called his communications “very immature and unacceptable” during his earlier testimony this week.
Rapino maintained his composure throughout Thursday’s proceedings, calmly addressing what he characterized as misleading or inaccurate claims from Kessler.
When confronted about a Ticketmaster executive’s explanation during the notorious 2022 Taylor Swift ticket sale disaster that blamed outdated systems for the problems, Rapino offered a different account.
“We thought demand overloaded the system,” Rapino testified. “It turned out not to be true.”
He explained that a cyberattack was actually responsible for the technical failures.
Addressing Kessler’s suggestion that Live Nation prohibits personal lawn chairs at its 40 nationwide amphitheaters to force customers to rent company chairs, Rapino disagreed with the characterization.
“It was a safety issue, for sure,” Rapino explained, describing how concertgoers became frustrated with each other when fans brought different-sized chairs that sometimes blocked sightlines.
Kessler also raised a 2024 incident involving complaints from Adele fans regarding Ticketmaster’s presale ticket procedures.
Rapino clarified that the situation involved competing ticketing companies posing as fan organizations to “get tickets for free we had to acquire.”
When asked whether Live Nation declined Adele’s offer to cover ticketing fees for her supporters, Rapino was emphatic.
“We would never say no to Adele,” Rapino stated. “We said no to the ticketing company.”
