Drake’s manager showers Ticketmaster, Live Nation with praise at antitrust trial 

MANHATTAN (CN) — Rap superstar Aubrey “Drake” Graham has such a bubbly relationship with Live Nation that his career wouldn’t be the same without it, the musician’s manager testified on Wednesday as the controversial promoter faces down a major antitrust trial.

That manager — Adel Nur, also known as Future The Prince — even once sent a message to Live Nation’s head, stating that their partnership with the company was “the single most important relationship in Drake’s career.”

“It’s been what I believe to be the most fair relationship,” Nur testified via deposition. “They are the most important relationship in prioritizing him, making him feel valued, making him feel like he’s important to the company and going above and beyond to service him.”

That “above and beyond” service has featured a few multimillion-dollar bonuses to thank Drake for successful touring seasons, including one worth $6 million after a 2019 tour.

Nur said Live Nation’s CEO Michael Rapino told him about the bonus personally, assuring him that Drake has “the best deal in touring.”

Nur was the final witness to testify in defense of Live Nation and Ticketmaster as the vertically integrated companies seek to thwart sprawling antitrust accusations from a coalition of suing states.

Jurors could start deliberating as soon as this week. They’ll be asked to decide whether the joint companies engaged in an unlawful, monopolistic scheme to pressure artists and venues into doing business with them while also gouging fans in the process.

Nur insisted that no such scheme took place. Numerous text messages elicited throughout his testimony showed him gushing about Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s services to Rapino and others.

“I will always trust you,” Nur said in one 2025 text to Rapino, who responded with a praying hands emoji.

Nur said he reassesses Drake’s promotion prospects on a tour-by-tour basis. And yet he keeps picking Live Nation and Ticketmaster, he said, because they’re the best options.

“If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s that if there’s a problem, Live Nation and Ticketmaster separately will do everything in their power to try to fix it,” Nur said.

Still, he acknowledged that Drake had a “unique” arrangement with the companies as one of the largest artists in the world.

Many musicians have exclusive promotional deals with Live Nation, which the states have criticized as part of the anticompetitive scheme. Drake, Nur said, can choose whichever promoter he wants.

Nur had humble beginnings. The Somali-Canadian music producer described meeting Drake in the Toronto nightclub scene before striking up a friendship, becoming his DJ and eventually his manager.

“He’s my best friend in the whole world,” Nur testified, noting that he handles both Drake’s personal and professional matters. “If he asks me to help him take out the garbage, I’ll do it.”

At one point, Nur was asked to break down Drake’s lyrics on his 2013 hit Pound Cake, in which the rapper boasts about having a “contract like ‘91 Dan Marino, I swear this guy Michael Rapino’s boosting my ego.” Nur agreed that the lyrics indeed appeared to be a reference to his contract with Live Nation that year.

Nur was one of several witnesses invoked by the defense to show that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are successful not because they pressure their clients, but because they are the best options on the market.

George Hanna, chief technology and digital officer for the Los Angeles Clippers, testified that ticketer Seatgeek couldn’t handle the load of ticketing a concert like Ticketmaster could. Dave Brown, general manager of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, agreed that Ticketmaster was an “innovative company.”

Brandon Briggs, chief operating officer of the Inter Miami soccer team, said that Ticketmaster’s infrastructure was simply better than its competitors.

“Ultimately, it was the best technology for us and our organization,” he said.

The testimony counters that of some of the states’ witnesses, including John Abbamondi, former CEO of Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He said Live Nation retaliated against him for switching ticketers from Ticketmaster to Seatgeek, which he claimed had better technology.

The states claim this is a common practice for Live Nation and Ticketmaster. They accuse the companies of using their respective market dominance to pressure artists into using Live Nation and venues into using Ticketmaster — then threatening to withhold one if customers refuse the other.

The unprecedented antitrust case nearly stalled altogether after the Department of Justice, which initially brought the case in 2024, unceremoniously announced a settlement midtrial. The $280 million deal orders several changes to Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s respective business models but does not require them to split, leading more than two dozen states to reject the terms of the deal and pursue a case of their own.

Follow @Uebey Follow @uebey.bsky.social