Live Nation exec testifies he regrets boasting about ‘robbing’ concertgoers in unearthed texts

MANHATTAN (CN) — A Live Nation executive was forced to answer Tuesday for a series of messages made public amid his company’s ongoing federal antitrust trial, in which he appears to boast about “taking advantage” of concertgoers with exorbitant parking fees and other pricey add-ons.

Ben Baker, the head of ticketing for Live Nation venues, testified that the language he used in the Slack messages was “immature,” “unacceptable” and “indefensible.”

“Robbing them blind baby” Baker said in one 2022 message to fellow Live Nation employee Jeff Weinhold. “That’s how we do.”

Baker sent the message alongside a chart, titled “premier parking,” which yielded more than $166,000 in growth from 2019 to 2021. At the time, Baker and Weinhold were “junior staffers,” according to the company, responsible for handling the sale of tickets and add-ons, like parking, at certain Live Nation venues.

Prosecutors published a series of messages between Baker and Weinhold to the case’s public docket last week. The private texts appear to show the duo crudely testing the waters to see how much they can charge for parking at various concerts.

At a Kid Rock concert in 2022, the top price was $199.

“These people are so stupid,” Baker wrote. “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them. BAHAHAHAHAHA.”

But faced with the texts on the witness stand on Tuesday, Baker took a different tone.

“What I was trying to convey was my surprise that this is what fans were willing to pay to upgrade their experience,” he said. “They were not required to purchase any of these products.”

Baker also admitted he raised the price of parking even further after texting with Weinhold, who said he set his top-level parking price to $250 for a show at his venue.

“I wonder if I can get $225,” Baker said in a message at the time.

“Sure why not,” Weinhold replied.

Even when he bumped up the price, Baker said fans still bought the parking spots. His messages to Weinhold at the time, he said, were those of “utter surprise.”

“I can’t change the language — there’s no excuse for the language,” Baker said of the texts on Tuesday. “What I was trying to convey to Jeff was my surprise that the demand was there for those products.”

Jurors saw another set of messages in which Baker and Weinhold discussed charging for parking at another show.

“I charge $50 to park in the grass lmao,” Baker said. “I charge $60 for closer grass.”

Baker added that he lists “oversize” parking for $100, “which doesn’t give you ANY benefits” and is still three-quarters of a mile away from the venue.

“Hahahaha,” he said.

“Lolol,” replied Weinhold.

Of this text chain, Baker testified that this was “unfortunately, again, very regrettable, immature language” but did not deny that it is what he wrote at the time.

The messages speak to accusations from around three dozen states that Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster, illegally maintained a monopoly over live events in the United States, smothering competition and smacking consumers with higher ticket prices.

Live Nation tried to keep the texts from coming to light, arguing in court filings that the exchanges are “irrelevant” and “highly prejudicial.” The company claimed, since Baker and Weinhold were discussing the prices of parking, VIP club access and other add-ons — not pure ticket prices — that the messages had nothing to do with the underlying issues in the case.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, the Joe Biden appointee presiding over the trial, disagreed. He ruled last week that the messages are relevant to the overall fan experience, and compared it to the harm that filmgoers might face if theaters started charging $50 for a bag of popcorn.

In a statement to Courthouse News, Live Nation said that the exchange shown to jurors “from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely does not reflect our values or how we operate.”

“Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and promptly began looking into the matter,” the company added. “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.”

Baker said Tuesday that he has been promoted twice since he sent the scrutinized messages about four years ago. He also said, since they became public, Live Nation has not taken any punitive action against him.

The Department of Justice initially brought the sprawling antitrust case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2024, with the District of Columbia and 39 states joining the lawsuit. But last week, the DOJ unceremoniously settled with the live event giants in the middle of trial, leaving more than 30 unsatisfied states to resume the case on their own.

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