Live Nation disclosed in a court filing Monday that Michael Rapino spoke with President Donald Trump in February, weeks before the Justice Department settled its antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster unit. The company said the two did not discuss any substantive settlement terms.
The filing puts a new date on a conversation that has drawn fresh attention because the settlement came just days into the March trial, and most states declined to join it. That deal left the case moving anyway, and several weeks later a jury found the company had acted as a monopoly that cost concertgoers and sports fans.
The disclosure also adds to the question of how the case moved so quickly. Live Nation said White House lawyers were involved in some of the in-person meetings, videoconferences, telephone calls and written communications between the company and the Justice Department in February and March, even as the antitrust fight was still unfolding in court. The Justice Department and dozens of states had originally teamed up to bring the lawsuit, a fact that made the federal settlement and the states’ refusal to sign on more consequential.
The settlement itself did not end the pressure on Live Nation. It included a cap on service fees at some amphitheaters and new ticket-selling options for promoters and venues that could open the door to competitors such as SeatGeek or AXS, but the trial continued and a New York jury later found Ticketmaster’s anticompetitive practices had led people in 22 states to pay an extra $1.72 per ticket. In April, Live Nation said that verdict “is not the last word on this matter.”
What remains unresolved is not whether the case mattered, but what exactly was discussed in February. Live Nation has said the Trump-Rapino conversation did not reach substantive settlement terms, yet the presence of White House lawyers in the communications around the case keeps the focus on how much influence was being exerted while the government’s antitrust case was still live.
