Live Nation employees bragged about overcharging fans: ‘Robbing them blind, baby’
NY Post
Two Live Nation employees bragged about slapping customers with exorbitant fees at the entertainment giant’s venues, saying “these people are so stupid” that “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them,” according to court documents released late Wednesday.
Live Nation – which owns Ticketmaster, the company accused of gouging ticket prices for Taylor Swift fans and other concertgoers – earlier this week reached a surprise settlement with the Justice Department, though several state attorneys general are still pursuing legal action.
In a series of Slack messages from 2021 through 2023, Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold – then regional directors of ticketing – gloated about hiking “ancillary fees” for parking and VIP packages to sky-high levels, court exhibits showed.
Messages showed Weinhold boasting about charging $250 for VIP parking at a Virginia venue and Baker gleefully recounting charging “$50 to park in the grass” and “$60 for closer grass” at another venue.
“These people are so stupid,” Baker wrote. “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.”
In a conversation from 2022, the pair discussed the annual growth of “premier parking” at an unspecified venue, which hit $660,000 in 2021, according to a financial table in the chat.
US stocks were little changed on Tuesday as oil prices dropped after President Trump signaled the war in Iran will be limited – though the drop slowed after the White House walked back a claim that an oil tanker had been escorted through an Iranian energy chokepoint.
After nearly 50 years in Orange County, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA is packing up its headquarters — trading Cypress, California for Kennesaw, Georgia in a sweeping corporate shift that will impact about 250 workers.The motorcycle and motorsports giant says the move is part of major “structural reforms” meant to boost profits as costs climb — including pressure from tariffs imposed during the administration of President Donald Trump and shifting market conditions.
Southern California’s luxury shopping landscape is shrinking as three high-end department store locations prepare to shut their doors.
Stocks went on a rollercoaster ride Monday — with the Dow finishing in positive territory on upbeat comments from President Trump after plunging nearly 900 points on simmering stagflation fears.
Private equity firm KKR is working with advisers on a sale of data center cooling company CoolIT Systems for a price tag potentially exceeding $3 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
John Tatum is one of the most plugged-in businessmen I know, and yet when the bombs started flying over his hotel room in downtown Doha — just a few minutes from the embattled US military facility in Qatar — he was stranded and helpless.
Morgan Stanley’s surprise round of layoffs this past week was the result of “shifting business and location priorities,” and “individual job performance” issues here and abroad, according to the firm’s flacks.
Saks Global said Friday it was closing 15 more stores as the luxury retailer, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, tries to cut losses and focus on more profitable, higher-end locations.
Bars and eateries are adapting to the Ozempic era by offering mini cocktails.
Six Flags Entertainment will sell off seven of its amusement parks in the United States and Canada to EPR Properties, the company announced Thursday.
A pair of baby-faced Goldman Sachs bankers could be fired over flashy photo shoots and interviews they gave for an “unauthorized” spread in a trendy New York magazine, The Post has learned.
Ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson took a major hit last week when a multimillion-dollar load of his ALP nicotine pouches vanished in a hijacking in Los Angeles. Now he’s offering a financial windfall to whoever tracks them down or the people responsible.