It’s time to join the fight and expose Ticketmaster



Concerts are supposed to be fun. Unfortunately, the typical excitement and anticipation of attending a show or sporting event has been overshadowed by panic and stress. Nearly 50% of concertgoers recently admitted they’ve considered taking a second job just to afford tickets.

In addition to shelling out a small fortune for concert tickets, fans now have to worry if their tickets will vanish into thin air, thanks to one company’s epic data breach earlier this year. With the data from about 560 million people up for grabs, your ticket might just be the hottest item on a hacker’s wish list.

We find ourselves in this situation because Live Nation-Ticketmaster manages the artists, runs the venues, and sells the tickets — virtually every piece of the ecosystem.

Why is this all happening? The ticketing industry’s self-made monopolist, Ticketmaster, changed the game, and it’s time we as fans do something about it.

The merger of Ticketmaster with its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, back in 2010 has brought turmoil and frustration for artists, concert venues, and consumers alike. But while many affected by Ticketmaster’s monopoly in the live event and ticket ecosystem have spoken out, not much has happened.

Thankfully, the lawsuit from the Department of Justice and a bipartisan group of more than 40 state and district attorneys general compiles over a decade’s worth of evidence that true competition in live events and the ticketing industry is absent — leading to increased costs and fewer event opportunities for fans.

Ticketmaster's latest blunder with Oasis’ highly anticipated 2025 comeback tour underscores the company’s ongoing failure to put fans first. At the outset, overwhelming traffic caused Ticketmaster’s system to crash, leaving thousands of U.K. fans stuck in queues without ever getting a chance to purchase tickets, while others paid considerably more than they anticipated.

Sound familiar, Swifties?

We find ourselves in this situation because Live Nation-Ticketmaster manages the artists, runs the venues, and sells the tickets — virtually every piece of this ecosystem. Its overwhelming control over ticketing, touring, and promotions has led to restricted consumer choices and inflated ticket prices, all while Live Nation-Ticketmaster becomes ever more profitable.

The lack of real competition between Ticketmaster and other ticket sellers is evident. Live Nation owns or manages 60% of the highest-grossing venues in the United States, granting Ticketmaster exclusive rights for initial ticket sales at those venues. Additionally, Live Nation directly manages more than 350 musical artists and their tours. Guess which venues they use?

Then there are the concerns around its business tactics that box out other market participants. Its network of exclusive contracts eliminates choice, forcing venues and artists into the hands of a single corporate player.

And of course, as we just saw with Oasis and many other high-demand sales, the lack of competition results in poor execution and poor customer service.

In some instances, Live Nation even exclusively sells its own canned water — Liquid Death — at its venues. The list goes on.

The federal government must take decisive action to dismantle this monopoly and introduce real competition in the live event industry. With former President Donald Trump decidedly winning the election, we can only hope his new team at the Justice Department will continue to keep antitrust enforcement at the forefront.

Transparency in primary ticketing is nonexistent, while venues, artists, and promoters remain under the control of a single entity. Restrictive terms and conditions limit what people can do with a ticket.

Now is the time for fans to say, enough is enough — especially if you are one of the 145 million Americans who plan to attend a live event in the next year and don’t want to see the tickets you spent a small fortune on disappear.

Portland art event lets black people in for free, charges everyone else $80



An event at an art festival in Portland, Oregon, offered race-based admission pricing. According to an ad for the event, "Black folks" could attend for free or with a donation of their choice. All other attendees had to pay $80 a piece.

Black Feast: Black Imagerial, a three-hour event hosted last Sunday by Salimatu Amabebe and sponsored by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, was promoted as "a culinary event celebrating Black artists and writers through food."

"At our table," the event description states, "guests participate in an experience that weaves together food and art, where Salimatu [Amabebe] works with Black artists to create a multi-course, vegan, gluten-free meal based off of the artist’s work."

While guests created their "multi-course vegan, and gluten-free meal," they were also regaled with interpretive dance.

"With eight Black dancers and artists moving with the land, Black Imagerial recognizes Black movement as embodied image-making and visionary practice," the description continues.

In keeping with the "Black" theme of the event, black guests could attend for free. "**This event is free or by donation for Black folks," the ad says, advising those who identify as black to use promo code "blackmovement" to receive their free tickets. It is unclear how a person's black identity was verified or whether those of mixed race were able to attend free of charge.

The ad did provide a means for "Black folks" to make a donation, if they so chose.

Despite the hefty $80 fee charged to non-black attendees, the event sold out, according to the website. The number of participants is unknown, though capacity was supposedly limited to 40 persons.

"This meal is created as a celebration, a dance, and an offering. This meal is created for you," the festival ad insisted.

The Twitter account Libs of TikTok first noted the event and its race-based admission charge disparity last Friday.

\u201cPortland Art Festival is having an event that\u2019s free for black people to attend. All others are charged $80 for a ticket\u201d
— Libs of TikTok (@Libs of TikTok) 1663359383

Black Feast: Black Imagerial was just one event featured at the 20th annual Time-Based Art Festival, which claims to push "against this edge of what it means to make—and who can participate in—contemporary art."

Fox News Digital reached out to the PICA for a comment about the event, but did not receive a response.

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot allegedly argued with 'idiot' owner of luxury car showroom hit by smash-and-grab theft — then city ticketed owner days later



Readers of TheBlaze may recall one of a number of recent smash-and-grab thefts which have seemed to grow more brazen and more organized as time goes on: A pair of crooks caught on surveillance video last month smashing display cases in a Chicago luxury car showroom, stealing watches worth millions, and then running off unscathed.

Joe Perillo, co-owner of Gold Coast Exotic Motors, later said he was frustrated by what he sees as "kid gloves" consequences for crooks.

"If they get arrested, they get let go," he told WLS-TV. "So, how do you intend to ever solve that problem?"

Perillo also told the station: "If they don't do anything about this, they're going to lose a lot of businesses. They lost Macy's. They're losing Neiman Marcus. They may lose this store."

Chicago business owner calls for 'law and order' after armed Gold Coast heist | ABC7 Chicago youtu.be

Lori Lightfoot allegedly calls Perillo an 'idiot'

Well, CWB Chicago reported that Mayor Lori Lightfoot met with Perillo days later in the showroom on North Rush Street to discuss the costly theft, and two sources familiar with their chat said things deteriorated between them.

One source told the outlet that the infamously combative mayor “got into a fight and walked out" of the meeting. The second source confirmed the meeting headed south and added that Lightfoot called Perillo an “idiot” as she departed, CWB Chicago reported.

But Perillo told Fox News he didn't hear Lightfoot call him an "idiot."

"I’m not aware that she called me an idiot … at least she did not say that to me," he noted to the cable network in regard to their chat. "In her heart, I believe she is trying her best. That said, we are both passionate individuals and have different views of how to deal with theft. I can report that there was nothing I said that in any way was foolish. I simply wanted to know what her future plans were going forward."

While a mayor’s office spokesperson confirmed that Lightfoot met with Perillo, the official declined to provide details about the conversation, citing privacy expectations, CWB Chicago said.

But wait, there's more

No more than two days after the reportedly tense meeting, an inspector from the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection stopped by the showroom bearing gifts. Christmas was coming up, after all.

But what the inspector was toting required no wrapping paper.

CWB Chicago, citing a Lightfoot spokesperson, said the inspector was following up on an anonymous Dec. 15 complaint about a public health violation at the dealership — and the inspector issued tickets.

For what it's worth, the expensive smash-and-grab took place Dec. 11, and the unfortunate Lightfoot-Perillo meeting happened after that. The tickets were issued Dec. 17, CWB Chicago said.

“It was unrelated to the mayor’s meeting with Mr. Perillo,” the spokesperson told the outlet in regard to handout of tickets.

The outlet said Perillo’s dealership received four tickets for six violations, adding that the inspector allegedly saw three employees and one customer not wearing COVID-19 face masks inside the dealership.

Perillo received a ticket for “storing, receiving, possessing, selling nineteen bottles of liquor. One whiskey, champagnes, wine, etc.," CWB Chicago said, adding that another ticket alleges two violations: Failure to display an incidental consumption liquor license and failure to have a required liquor license.

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