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.
