Congress requests hearing with Live Nation CEO over Taylor Swift ticket controversy
Yahoo Finance entertainment reporter Allie Canal joins the Live show to detail lawmakers' interest in investigating the circumstances that allowed the Ticketmaster-Taylor Swift scandal.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: Live Nation can't escape the heat of the Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco. Now the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is calling the CEO, Michael Rapino, to the Hill to explain exactly what happened. Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal has been all over this story for us. Allie, this new development, clearly, Congress wants answers.
ALLIE CANAL: Yes, they do, and quoting our executive producer from earlier, this is just one story that won't go away. It will not die. Now Congress is adamant for those answers. In a letter addressed to Michael Rapino, the committee requested the process that this company has taken when it comes to the Eras tour and what it plans to do moving forward to make sure that consumers have better access to live events.
They also asked Rapino to schedule a briefing no later than December 15. So the clock is ticking on this. The Justice Department reportedly launched an antitrust investigation. And remember, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, they merged in 2010. And since then, there have been repeated calls to break up this company. One of the staunchest critics in this has been Senator Richard Blumenthal. He was on our program on Friday. Here's a little bit more of what he had to say.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: The artists, the consumers, the venues all have an interest in choices. They should have choices, rather than one seller and being at the mercy of one seller, Ticketmaster, or any other single monopolist.
ALLIE CANAL: So the focus here is really on anticompetitive behavior. And if that's something that Congress can prove, that could potentially lead to a breakup. It could be a slam dunk antitrust case. And when we think about the stock reaction, it's down about 40% year to date. But shares of Live Nation did hit their lowest level since February 2021 in the immediate wake of this. So certainly not a good PR move for this company at all. We'll see, though, if it leads to any tangible change next year.
DAVE BRIGGS: So often with these stories-- and with all due respect-- Congress gets distracted by a shiny object until the next shiny object comes along. But Blumenthal has a lot of pressure from consumers who want change. And he wants to pursue that breakup with the DOJ.
