Senators Apply More Pressure to Cancel Live Nation’s Deal

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Senators Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and more call on the court to investigate the surprise deal between the DOJ and Live Nation.

A group of senators, including Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker, is urging Judge Arun Subramanian of the Southern District of New York to look into Live Nation’s surprise settlement with the Department of Justice, which was reached just one week into the antitrust trial.

Their request follows reports that President Trump pushed the deal after being urged by powerful friends, including former Live Nation board member Ari Emanuel.

“The facts surrounding the settlement also point toward a deal made in response to political pressure rather than the public interest,” read a letter filed by the senators on Tuesday, asking the court to “reject the settlement if it is not in the public interest.”

“Fans, artists, and independent venues have suffered for too long under Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopoly control of live events,” the letter continued. “The recent settlement between Live Nation-Ticketmaster and the Justice Department fails to address these fundamental issues and stops far short of prying open this industry to new competition, innovation, and choice for consumers.”

The letter was signed by Senators Klobuchar, Warren, and Booker, as well as Senators Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, and Peter Welch.

The settlement reached with the DOJ included monetary damages, as well as concessions involving the company’s amphitheater business. But critics insist it did not do enough to address Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s dominance in the industry. The senators’ letter addressed those concerns and the manner in which the deal was struck in the first place.

“The proposed settlement terms, negotiated under suspicious circumstances, do not include the kinds of remedies that consumers and small businesses deserve,” the letter stated.

The circumstances in question also include the sudden removal of top officials in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, including former head Gail Slater. Further, they include the lobbying efforts of MAGA influencer and Live Nation lawyer Mike Davis.

According to a statement from Slater’s former deputy, Roger Alford (who was also ousted under mysterious circumstances), Live Nation-Ticketmaster “paid a bevy of cozy MAGA friends to roam the halls [of the antitrust division] in defense of their monopoly abuses.”

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, the company’s attorneys, and DOJ officials that include former Attorney General Pam Bondi, reportedly met at the White House on March 5 and reached a deal that was signed later that day. However, the court was not informed of the deal until a hearing several days later.

“The Justice Department lawyers trying the case were not involved in the settlement discussions and were not even aware of its existence prior to its filing,” the letter pointed out. “The state attorneys general were also kept in the dark. That the statement was hashed out without input from the lawyers trying the case demonstrates this was not a settlement struck in response to perceived litigation risk or to protect the public from harms resulting from alleged anticompetitive behavior.”

To that end, Judge Subramanian called the timeline surrounding the settlement “unacceptable” after learning of it on March 9. The judge said it showed an “absolute disrespect for the court, the jury, and this entire process.”

“This is for the fans, the artists, and the venues—because the DOJ’s proposed settlement with Live Nation-Ticketmaster appears to fail them,” Klobuchar told Rolling Stone. “That is why Senator Warren and I are urging the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to scrutinize this settlement under the Tunney Act and determine whether it truly serves the public interest.”

The Tunny Act, officially known as the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, was passed in 1974. The law’s main purpose is to support court review of Justice Department decisions regarding mergers and acquisitions, including settlements, in a bid to prevent corruption.