Taylor Swift fans sue Ticketmaster for 'fraud and malicious misrepresentation' after Eras tour debacle
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A group of 25 enraged Taylor Swift fans from around the country are reportedly suing Ticketmaster for "fraud and malicious misrepresentation" following November's Eras tour debacle. The platform had canceled the public sale of the 'Blank Space' singer's tour tickets following issues with the website due to an "unprecedented demand" from fans to buy tickets for the tour which supported her recording-shattering album 'Midnight' that was released in October. The show is reportedly scheduled to kick off on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, and wrap up in Los Angeles in August.
In her now-deleted long Instagram Story on November 18, Swift narrated the debacle in which she expressed her discontent with Ticketmaster, which had assured that it can handle the demand, reflecting the sentiments of her fans. Swift at the time said that it "pisses her off" as many fans spent eight hours in a virtual queue on Ticketmaster after tickets went on sale before they were unexpectedly kicked out of line.
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‘It really pisses me off’: Taylor Swift slams Ticketmaster ahead of 'The Eras Tour'
The 33-page lawsuit was filed Friday in Los Angeles, attorney Jennifer Kinder told the New York Post. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti vowed to investigate Ticketmaster after his office was flooded with messages from irate concert hopefuls. And the US Senate subcommittee that handles antitrust and consumer rights matters revealed its plans to hold a hearing to discuss concerns about Ticketmaster in the wake of the Eras errors.
Following the public outcry, Ticketmaster apologized on November 19 and explained what exactly happened as fans began to buy tickets, “We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans – especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets. We feel we owe it to everyone to share some information to help explain what happened,” it said in a detailed explanation on its website.
We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans - especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets. We feel we owe it to everyone to share some information to help explain what happened: https://t.co/1Gn4kRIvq8
— Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 19, 2022
In the suit, Swifties claimed Ticketmaster “tacitly encourages” scalpers as the company gets paid fees every time tickets are resold, as per the New York Post report. However, Ticketmaster previously stated that over 3.5 million people pre-registered for verified fans, the most significant registration in the company's history. A promo code was issued to 1.5 million fans for the verified fan presale, while the remaining 2 million were placed on a waiting list.
As reported earlier, Swift wrote in her Instagram story, "I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could." Expressing her displeasure she added, "It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them."