Swifties Lawyering Up Against Ticketmaster

Taylor Swift fans join lawsuit after ticketing debacle
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2022 10:35 AM CST
Swifties Lawyering Up Against Ticketmaster
Singer Taylor Swift performs at London's Wembley Stadium in 2018.   (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

Ticketmaster may face more trouble over the debacle it made of its attempt to sell Taylor Swift concert tickets. Fans of the singer—self-anointed Swifties—have filed a lawsuit against the company and parent LiveNation alleging "fraud, price-fixing, and antitrust violations,” reports Pitchfork. The suit further alleges that Ticketmaster engaged in "intentional deception" that allowed scalpers to buy most of the tickets that went on sale last month, per Deadline. That way, the company could collect even more fees on resold tickets, the lawsuit alleges. So far, more than two dozen fans have joined the lawsuit and about 150 have expressed interest in doing so since it was filed Friday, per the Washington Post.

"They messed with the wrong fan base," Jennifer Kinder, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, tells the Post. Kinder also happens to be a Swiftie herself who tried to buy tickets for the "Eras" tour for her and her daughter but was unable to do so, even though she had registered for "Verified Fans" status in the Ticketmaster system. The lawsuit seeks $2,500 per every violation of the Unfair Competition Law in California, which the Post notes covers "any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising.”

In addition to the lawsuit, lawmakers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee have said Ticketmaster's monopoly on the ticket-selling business needs greater scrutiny in the wake of the Swift chaos. "The high fees, site disruptions, and cancellations that customers experienced show how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve," says Klobuchar, who with Lee is leading a new subcommittee investigation of the company. (Swift herself also is angry at Ticketmaster.)

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