Live Nation employee mocks customers as 'so stupid' in internal messages
released in court case
[March 13, 2026]
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Incendiary internal messages in which a Live Nation
employee mocks customers as “so stupid” and says the company is “robbing
them blind, baby” have been made public as over two dozen states weigh
whether to continue their antitrust trial against the entertainment
giant and its subsidiary Ticketmaster.
The messages from late 2021 through early 2023 on the online work
messaging platform Slack were highlighted late Wednesday in a filing by
government lawyers released in the public court record. The lawyers
insist the messages should be evidence in the week-old trial in
Manhattan federal court against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
At the trial, lawyers for the federal government and 39 states and the
District of Columbia say Live Nation and Ticketmaster were squelching
competition and driving up prices for fans through threats, retaliation
and other tactics to “suffocate the competition” by controlling
virtually every aspect of the industry, from concert promotion to
ticketing. The companies insist that artists, sports teams and venues
set prices and decide how tickets are sold.
The government lawyers wrote that the statements should be part of the
trial because they are “candid, internal messages" in which Ben Baker
“calls fans ‘so stupid,’ explains that he ‘gouge(s)’ them, and brags
that Live Nation is ‘robbing them blind, baby.’"
In the submission to Judge Arun Subramanian, the lawyers noted that
Baker made the statements while he was a regional director of ticketing
with responsibility for a large amphitheater in Florida but has since
been promoted to head of ticketing for Venue Nation with
responsibilities relating to all of Live Nation's venues.
They said the employees were discussing Live Nation's price for access
to the VIP area of a show at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in
Tampa when Baker wrote that the prices are “outrageous,” that “these
people are so stupid” and that “I almost feel bad taking advantage of
them” before writing, “BAHAHAHAHAHA.”
Live Nation wants the exhibits disqualified from the trial, saying the
messages reflect “off-the-cuff banter, not policy” between two personal
friends who do not work together.
The company's lawyers wrote that the exhibits don't relate to the
antitrust claims. They said the employees were making “passing
references to non-ticket ancillary products — such as VIP club access,
premier parking, or lawn chair rentals — sold to concertgoers at two
amphitheaters” in Florida and Virginia.
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The seal of the Dept of Justice is shown on the podium, Aug. 1,
2023, at an office of the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP
Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
 But lawyers for the plaintiff states
and U.S. government wrote that “excessive prices for ancillary
services are directly relevant” to their claims and that
“ancillaries are a significant way that Live Nation monetizes its
monopoly position in the amphitheater market.”
In a statement Thursday, the company said the Slack exchange “from
one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn't reflect our values
or how we operate.”
The company added: “Because this was a private Slack message,
leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking
into the matter promptly.”
The arguments regarding the exhibits were made after Bloomberg News,
The New York Times and MLex, a publication which covers legal and
regulatory matters, and Inner City Press requested their release.
The trial’s status is up in the air after the federal government
announced this week it was settling with Live Nation in a deal that
would give Live Nation's competitors some access to ticket sales
they are currently excluded from.
Lawyers for more than two dozen states have asked that the ongoing
trial be scrapped and that a new jury be chosen in the weeks ahead.
A jury that began hearing evidence last week was told to stay home
this week with the expectation the trial would resume on Monday.
Meanwhile, Subramanian encouraged lawyers for the states and Live
Nation to negotiate this week before telling him late Friday whether
they've reached a deal.
Although the parties were not speaking publicly about the progress
of any talks, a lawyer for Live Nation indicated at a court hearing
Tuesday that there was no realistic chance of a fast deal with all
states.
In a letter to the judge Thursday, a states' lawyer signaled the
trial was likely to resume, saying the judge needed to rule on
whether the Slack message exhibits can be shown to the jury because
his decision will have a “material impact” on which witnesses the
states call to testify as the states “prepare to resume trial next
week.”
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