“These people are so stupid.” “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them. BAHAHAHAHAHA.” “Robbing them blind, baby. That’s how we do it.”

These are not quotes from a satire show. These are internal Slack messages between two Live Nation employees, unsealed as part of the ongoing antitrust case against the company and made public on March 12, 2026. The messages date from late 2021 through early 2023 and were exchanged between Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, both regional ticketing directors for Live Nation amphitheaters at the time.

The context: Baker and Weinhold were discussing ancillary fees at a Kid Rock concert at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa. VIP parking at up to $250 per spot. $50 to park on grass. $60 for slightly closer grass. Baker wrote that he deliberately inflated ancillary costs to offset changes in base seat prices: “I gouge them on ancil prices.”

Not an Isolated Incident. A Promotion.

Live Nation responded to the revelation with a statement describing the messages as an exchange between “one junior staffer” and “a friend” that “absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate.” The company emphasized that leadership only learned of the messages when the public did.

What the statement doesn’t mention: Both Baker and Weinhold were employed by Live Nation at the time of the messages. Baker was not a junior staffer but a regional ticketing director responsible for a major amphitheater. And he wasn’t fired or reassigned since. He was promoted. Baker now heads ticketing for Venue Nation, the division that oversees all of Live Nation’s venues in the United States. He was scheduled to testify during the ongoing trial.

A man who internally bragged about “robbing fans blind” rose to become head of all venue ticketing. This is not an individual lapse. This is a corporate culture that rewards gouging.

The Trial: A Deal for the DOJ, a Fight for the States

The messages became public because Bloomberg, the New York Times, and other outlets requested the unsealing of exhibits after the announcement of a settlement between Live Nation and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Judge Arun Subramanian granted the motion.

The settlement itself, announced on March 9 during the ongoing trial, includes: a payment of up to $280 million, a cap on service fees at 15 percent at Live Nation-owned amphitheaters, the opening of 13 amphitheaters to outside promoters, and a requirement to give competing platforms access to Ticketmaster’s infrastructure. What the settlement does not include: the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the original goal of the lawsuit.

For many observers, the deal is a win for Live Nation. New York Attorney General Letitia James called it a settlement that “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta pointed to the first week of trial: “We’ve already heard that Live Nation fully intended to take advantage of fans, and were able to do so because fans had no other place to go.”

32 U.S. states, including New York, California, and Texas, have rejected the settlement and will continue the trial without the DOJ starting Monday, March 16. Only seven states with Republican attorneys general have joined the settlement. The judge has ruled that the Slack messages may be presented to the jury.

What This Means for Europe

The trial is taking place in the United States. But Live Nation is a global corporation. In Europe, the company operates through subsidiaries and joint ventures, promotes stadium tours, and runs festivals. Anyone in Germany attending a concert at a Live Nation venue or buying tickets through Ticketmaster is part of the same system in which Baker and Weinhold cracked their Slack jokes.

In Germany, CTS Eventim dominates the market, not Ticketmaster. But the structures are similar: vertical integration of ticketing, promotion, and venue operations under one roof. What is currently on trial in the U.S. has long been business as usual in Europe.

The question is whether the U.S. proceedings will trigger a regulatory domino effect. The European Commission is working on the Digital Fairness Act, which could also affect ticketing platforms. Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) already prohibited CTS Eventim from using exclusive contracts in 2017. And the European artist alliance FEAT (Fair European Alliance for Ticketing), co-founded by Rammstein promoter Scumeck Sabottka and CTS Eventim subsidiary FKP Scorpio, is pushing Brussels for stricter rules on the secondary market.

What Remains

The Slack messages are not the scandal. They are the symptom. The scandal is a system in which a corporation holds so much market power that its employees can openly laugh about ripping off fans because there is no alternative. In which the man who wrote “robbing them blind” gets promoted while the DOJ accepts a settlement that leaves the monopoly intact.

32 states apparently agree. On Monday, the trial continues. This time without the federal government, but with the Slack messages as evidence.

Ben Baker was supposed to testify as a witness. It would be interesting to hear how he explains “BAHAHAHAHAHA” to a jury.