The U.S. Division of Justice is conducting a legal investigation into whether or not Reside Nation and AEG illegally colluded of their live performance refund insurance policies firstly of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reside Nation confirmed, although the live performance big is denying any wrongdoing.
Bloomberg first reported Thursday (Could 15) that the Division of Justice (DOJ) is investigating whether or not Reside Nation and AEG violated federal antitrust legal guidelines by coordinating their responses to mass live performance cancellations via a task force when the pandemic first hit in 2020.
Prosecutors have weighed bringing fees in opposition to Reside Nation and its CEO, Michael Rapino, in accordance with Bloomberg. No such fees have but been filed; the statute of limitations for federal antitrust prosecutions is 5 years, which means that if a case goes to be introduced, it must be quickly.
Reside Nation’s regulatory chief, Dan Wall, confirmed the legal probe in a press release to Billboard however says the corporate did nothing mistaken.
“It isn’t unlawful for artist brokers, promoters and ticketing corporations to work collectively to unravel the unprecedented challenges of a world pandemic,” Wall says. “Whereas Reside Nation contributed to this business effort in good religion, we set our personal distinctive insurance policies and refund phrases to help followers and artists. We didn’t collude with AEG or anybody else. We’re pleased with our management throughout these attempting instances, and if any fees consequence from this investigation, we’ll defend them vigorously.”
A DOJ spokesperson declined to touch upon the matter Friday (Could 16). Reps for AEG didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
The legal investigation comes on high of the DOJ’s civil antitrust action accusing Reside Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster of illegally monopolizing the stay music business. The lawsuit, filed final Could, seeks to break up the 2 stay leisure behemoths that merged in 2010.
Reside Nation and Ticketmaster insist that they’re in compliance with antitrust rules and have stated they plan to “vigorously defend” in opposition to the lawsuit at trial, at present scheduled for March 2026.
The Reside Nation-Ticketmaster swimsuit was introduced by then-President Joe Biden’s DOJ, and Bloomberg stories that the legal investigation into Reside Nation and AEG additionally started when Biden was president. However each enforcement actions have continued underneath President Donald Trump, who has made a precedence of cracking down on points throughout the stay leisure enterprise
Trump signed an executive order in March — with musician and political supporter Kid Rock in attendance — calling for higher transparency round ticket gross sales and directing regulators to look into potential situations of misleading and anticompetitive conduct within the business.
The DOJ and Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) responded by launching an official inquiry into the occasion ticketing enterprise on Could 7. The companies stated the probe is aimed toward growing competitors so as to decrease ticket costs, in addition to rooting out exploitative scalpers and bots.