LIVE NATION EXECS MOCK STUPID CUSTOMERS IN $280M SETTLEMENT

## The Masks Come Off And this is exactly why it has become so difficult to attend concerts: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour crashed Ticketmaster with 4.3 million bots in 2022. Live Nation executives celebrated the chaos by mocking their own customers as "stupid" while counting profits from $250 parking spots. Newly leaked internal messages reveal two Live Nation ticketing directors bragging about "price gouging" customers, with Ben Baker writing "These people are so stupid" in 2022 Slack exchanges that surfaced during the company's federal antitrust trial. Baker runs the whole game. He oversees ticketing for more than 150 amphitheaters across the country as head of ticketing for Live Nation. His partner in the messages, Jeff Weinhold, serves as senior ticketing director for the Washington D.C. area. ## The Numbers Behind The Mockery The leaked conversations expose systematic price manipulation across Live Nation's amphitheater network. Baker shared screenshots showing $250 VIP parking at a Kid Rock show in Tampa, adding "I almost feel bad taking advantage of them" followed by "BAHAHAHAHAHA". Baker bragged about charging "$50 to park in the grass" and "$60 for closer grass," then shared a spreadsheet showing premier parking revenue jumped from $470,000 in 2018 to $666,000 in 2021. His response: "Robbing them blind baby That's how we do." Live Nation's own annual report shows ancillary revenue at U.S. amphitheater shows topped $45 per fan in 2025. The leaked messages reveal how that number gets manufactured through what Baker calls "I gouge them on ancil prices" strategies. The documents show Baker calling pricing "f**ing outrageous" while celebrating that "these people are so stupid" for paying it. This is not accidental overpricing. This is systematic extraction. ## The Settlement That Changed Nothing Live Nation agreed to pay $280 million and cap amphitheater fees at 15 percent just days after these messages were filed as court exhibits on March 10, 2026. Baker was scheduled to testify before the Justice Department reached the settlement. Multiple states including New York and California rejected the settlement, with 39 states arguing it fails to address Live Nation's monopoly power. New York Attorney General Letitia James called the settlement terms "entirely unacceptable" and "fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case." The Ticket Policy Forum called the settlement "a token tap on the wrist" while state attorneys general argued ancillary fees prove Live Nation "is able to degrade the fan experience by charging excessive prices without fear of artists switching away." ## The Real Business Model This is not about music anymore. This is about venue control creating pricing power. AEG, Live Nation's competitor, stated they were "forced to work with Ticketmaster since Ticketmaster's exclusive deals with the vast majority of venues on the Eras Tour required us to ticket through their system". Live Nation dismissed the executives as "one junior staffer" talking to "a friend" in a statement, claiming "leadership learned of this when the public did". But Baker runs amphitheater ticketing nationwide and Weinhold controls the D.C. market. The leaked messages expose the economics behind Live Nation's venue stranglehold. When you control the rooms, you control the prices. When artists need your amphitheaters, fans pay whatever you charge for grass parking. The case resumes next week if remaining states cannot reach their own settlement. The question is whether 39 state attorneys general have more leverage than the customers Baker and Weinhold mocked in their Slack DMs.