Ticketmaster Executives Mock Fans as 'Stupid' in Leaked Messages Boasting About 'Robbing Them Blind'

Internal Slack messages exchanged by two senior Live Nation ticketing directors have been made public through a federal court, revealing employees describing their own company's fee practices in terms that will be difficult for Live Nation's legal team to explain away: 'These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.'

The messages, running from late 2021 through early 2023, were first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by the Associated Press on 12 March 2026. The two employees identified are Ben Baker, now Head of Ticketing for Venue Nation, the Live Nation division that runs its amphitheatre portfolio, and Jeff Weinhold, Senior Ticketing Director for the Washington area.

Live Nation had moved to keep the messages from the jury. It failed. US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the antitrust case in the Southern District of New York, ruled to unseal them on 11 March 2026.

The timing could not have been worse for the company. The messages surfaced two days after Live Nation struck a surprise settlement with the Department of Justice, narrowly avoiding a court order that could have forced it to break apart from Ticketmaster.

What the Messages Say

In a Slack conversation from January 2022, Baker shared a screenshot of pricing data from a Kid Rock concert in Tampa, Florida, and wrote: 'These people are so stupid. I have VIP parking up to $250 lol.' He added 'I almost feel bad taking advantage of them,' followed, according to the court record reviewed by Rolling Stone, by an all-caps 'BAHAHAHAHAHA.'

In a separate exchange, Baker wrote: 'I gouge them on ancil prices,' a reference to ancillary fees, the charges added on top of a base ticket price for items such as parking, lawn chairs, and VIP access. He continued: '$50 to park in the grass. $60 for closer grass. Robbing them blind, baby. That's how we do it.'

Weinhold's contribution to the exchange was a boast about raising VIP parking at a concert venue in Virginia to £188 ($250). The two were discussing what the government calls 'ancillary fees,' the charges layered on top of a base ticket price and which the DOJ argues are a central mechanism by which Live Nation extracts revenue from a captive audience with few or no alternative venue choices.

The government had flagged these messages in a late-filed court brief specifically because Live Nation asked for them to be excluded from evidence. In opposing that motion, DOJ lawyers wrote that the Slack exchanges were 'candid, internal messages' in which Baker 'calls fans so stupid, explains that he gouge[s] them, and brags that Live Nation is robbing them blind, baby.' Subramanian agreed they were relevant and ordered them released. Baker was also scheduled to testify at trial before the settlement rendered that unnecessary.

Live Nation's Response and Why It Is Already Being Challenged

Live Nation moved quickly. Within hours of the messages circulating publicly, the company issued a statement that was distributed to Variety, Raw Story and others: 'The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn't reflect our values or how we operate. 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 amphitheatre venue fees at 15% and have invested £770 million ($1 billion) in the last 18 months into US venues and fan amenities.'

The characterisation of Baker as a 'junior staffer' was immediately challenged by multiple outlets. At the time the messages were sent, Baker held the title of regional director of ticketing for a major Florida amphitheatre.

He has since been promoted to Head of Ticketing for Venue Nation, one of the most senior ticketing positions in the company's entire North American venue operation.

He was also, as noted, listed as a trial witness. Rolling Stone reported that it was unclear from the company's statement which of the two men, Baker or Weinhold, was being described as the 'junior staffer,' since both were Live Nation employees when the messages were sent.

The DOJ Settlement, Its Terms, and Why 27 States Are Still Fighting

The messages landed in the middle of a legal situation that was already in disarray. On 9 March 2026, three days before the Slack records became public, the Department of Justice reached a surprise settlement with Live Nation that Judge Subramanian said he learned about only from an email received Sunday night.

At Monday's hearing, Subramanian told the parties: 'It shows absolute disrespect for the court, the jury, and this entire process. It is absolutely unacceptable.' The DOJ's own lead prosecutor, David Dahlquist, told the court he had not known the settlement had been finalised until that morning.

Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation will set aside a fund of £215 million ($280 million) for states that sign on, divest at least 13 amphitheatres, cap service fees at 15% at its owned venues, open its ticketing platform to rivals including SeatGeek and Eventbrite, and cap its exclusivity contracts with venues at four years.

The agreement also extends the company's existing consent decree with the DOJ by eight years, with a £3.8 million ($5 million) penalty per violation. Live Nation's 2025 revenue was £19.4 billion ($25.2 billion). The American Economic Liberties Project publicly noted that the £215 million settlement 'is the equivalent of four days of their 2025 revenue.'

Senator Amy Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, told Rolling Stone that previous consent decrees had repeatedly failed to contain the company. 'Every time a Justice Department or an administration has done something like this, they've gotten around it and grown even bigger,' Klobuchar said. 'The only way to see a future for competition in ticketing, venues, and promotion would be breaking them up.'