Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino had a conversation with President Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the company settling with the Department of Justice regarding its monopoly lawsuit.
In a new document filed Monday and reviewed by TheWrap, attorneys for Live Nation revealed the company had a number of communications with the DOJ and members of White House counsel from February 2025 to March 2026, ranging from “in-person meetings, videoconferences, telephone calls, and written communications.”
The document — which was filed pursuant to the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act — also revealed that Rapino spoke directly with Trump in February 2026. According to the filing, “the status of DOJ’s lawsuit against Defendants came up but no substantive terms regarding any potential settlement were discussed.”
Others who participated in conversations with the DOJ on Live Nation’s behalf included President and CFO Joe Berchtold, Executive Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Dan Wall and Richard Grenell — a Live Nation director whom Trump also installed as interim executive director of the Kennedy Center after taking over as chair in 2025.
The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by the U.S. Justice Department and joined by 40 state attorneys general. It accused Live Nation of illegally maintaining monopoly power as the nation’s largest concert promoter, ticket seller and amphitheater operator. Twenty-five states were also seeking damages, alleging that Ticketmaster overcharged fans.
Live Nation and the DOJ announced they had reached a settlement back in March 2026 just as testimony was about to begin. Live Nation agreed to concessions short of a breakup, including ending booking agreements with 13 amphitheaters and opening others to competing promoters, along with a $200 million payment to the settling parties.
Following the settlement, numerous Democratic senators urged the District Court to “closely scrutinize” the agreement between Live Nation and the DOJ. The lawmakers argued that Live Nation has taken “anticompetitive actions that cement its position as the gatekeeper for live events and box out competitors” and that “mere behavioral safeguards” in the proposed DOJ settlement are “insufficient to remedy Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopoly power and — standing alone — are not in the public interest.”
“This settlement appears to be part of a larger pattern of Justice Department officials reportedly overruling antitrust enforcers for political reasons,” the senators noted. “These facts and allegations suggest that a thorough examination by the court under the Tunney Act to determine whether the deal was genuinely made in the public’s interest is merited.”
