Coolcaesar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On Monday, Live Nation reached a tentative settlement with the Department of Justice in the antitrust case that had threatened to separate the entertainment giant from its Ticketmaster subsidiary. As 27 of the 39 co-filing states prepare to continue their lawsuits next week, the court has released trial documents with internal messages from regional executives, who boasted about “taking advantage” of customers.

The messages, opened to the public after a joint petition from The New York Times, Bloomberg News and MLex, are excerpted from a series of Slack exchanges between Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, currently employed as head of ticketing for Live Nation’s Venue Nation and senior ticketing director in the Washington area. Between late 2021 and early 2023, Baker and Weinhold joked about overcharging customers with ancillary fees and services.

“These people are so stupid,” Baker wrote with a pricing chart for a 2022 Kid Rock show in Tampa, Fla., with a top price of $199. “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them BAHAHAHAHAHA.”

Weinhold responded, “I have VIP parking up to $250 lol.”

In another 2022 exchange, the executives discussed the growth of “premier parking” add-ons at an undisclosed venue, which reached a total of $666,000 in 2021; Baker bragged about charging “$50 to park in the grass” and “$60 for closer grass.” “Robbing them blind, baby,” he wrote. “That’s how we do it.”

In the same conversation, Baker and Weinhold shared the base prices at their shows, and Baker wrote, “I gouge them on ancil prices to make up for it.” “Preferred Seating baby,” Weinhold responded.

Live Nation had sought to exclude the messages from the trial proceedings and redacted the descriptions of the exchanges in its brief. Justice Department counsel countered that the communications served as a relevant foil for the customer-first image that the company angled for in its opening statements and “provide a candid, contemporaneous look into how they view the prices that Live Nation charges fans for ancillary services at their respective venues.” Judge Arun Subramanian ordered the documents released in full.

“The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate,” a Live Nation representative said in a statement. “Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly. Our business only works when fans have great experiences, which is why we’ve capped amphitheater venue fees at 15% and have invested $1 billion in the last 18 months into U.S. venues and fan amenities.”

Live Nation’s latest financial report, released in February, shows revenue in 2025 rose 9% from the previous year to $25.2 billion, with an operating profit that jumped 53% to $1.25 billion. The proposed settlement in its antitrust suit would require the company to pay $280 million in damages and implement structural changes to its business model, including the cap on service fees at 15% of a ticket’s face value at its amphitheaters.

Announcing her objection to the settlement terms and her intention with 26 other state attorneys general to carry on legal actions, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that the Justice Department’s deal failed “to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers. Trial is expected to resume in Manhattan on Monday.