The Justice Department could well be gearing up for an antitrust showdown with concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment, and its sister, Ticketmaster.

Insiders claim that a lawsuit could be filed by the year’s end, POLITICO reported. After the news broke, Live Nation’s shares took a 5% nosedive in extended trading.

The controversy surrounding Live Nation’s ticket sales practices has been a hot topic among U.S. senators this year, who criticized the company’s opacity and its inability to prevent ticket bots. This upcoming legal battle could challenge the entertainment behemoth’s dominance in the live music industry.

Details regarding the lawsuit’s timing remain uncertain, and the DOJ may ultimately decide to drop the case. While both Live Nation and the DOJ declined to comment, speculation continues to swirl around what could be a seismic legal clash. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

The DOJ probe possibility first emerged after a debacle over Taylor Swift tickets. Thousands of fans couldn’t buy the tickets, which quickly appeared on scalper sites with prices jacked through the roof.

After the Swift mess, the DOJ announced it was opening an antitrust inquiry into the monopoly, focused on “whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power over the multibillion-dollar live music industry,” The New York Times reported last November.

But Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts wrote a letter to the attorney general saying that’s not enough, noting that “an investigation alone does nothing for the stakeholders already harmed by Live Nation’s market dominance and seemingly ongoing anticompetitive behavior.”

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They said that the company, which controls about 60% of the market — including many of the biggest venues — “has continued to abuse its dominant market position,” adding that “we urge the Department to consider unwinding the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger and breaking up the company.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been a leader on the issue, jumping into the fray after the November sale of Swift tickets turned into a debacle.

“I was watching what was going on with the pre-release of Taylor Swift’s tickets,” she told Rolling Stone.

“It came up on a more personal level; I actually have quite a few staff who were trying to get tickets that day. Between seeing their experience and seeing all the people online talking about it, I think it really showed how widespread the problem is and reflects the degree of market consolidation in this industry.”

That’s exactly correct. Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, and it’s been a mess ever since. Ticketmaster controls the tickets, and Live Nation often owns the venue, which means they’ve got you coming and going.

“One of the things we’ve been increasingly seeing is that these price increases because of inflation and abuse of market power are due to market consolidation,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s gotten so bad that we’re really seeing it affect our everyday lives, from how much we’re paying at grocery stores to not being able to see our favorite artists without paying an arm and a leg.”

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Actor Rob Schneider unloaded on the government in a lengthy social media post, arguing that politicians on both sides of the political aisle would eventually turn Americans and their children into “slaves” if they didn’t wake up to what was happening.

Schneider, who was outspoken in his criticism of COVID-related mandates and lockdowns, said that the government — including elected officials and unelected bureaucrats — was attempting to systematically strip power from the people instead of working for their benefit.

The best slaves, the most cooperative slaves are the slaves that don’t even know they are slaves.
But how does a very small group of people enslave hundreds of millions of other people?!
It’s done one step at a time.
They took Civics out of Public schools. Because they don’t…

— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) August 1, 2023

“The best slaves, the most cooperative slaves are the slaves that don’t even know they are slaves,” Schneider began. “But how does a very small group of people enslave hundreds of millions of other people?! It’s done one step at a time.”

Schneider went on to say that it started with the children — and the fact that many were no longer being taught how their government was supposed to work or how they could influence the process.

“They took Civics out of Public schools,” he explained. “Because they don’t want you to know how your Government works. Because if you did, you might try to change things.”

“The Government wants us Fat, uneducated, sick, poisoned, and reliant on Government for handouts and pretending there’s a difference between the ‘Left and the Right,'” Schneider continued, pivoting to address the government and media colluding to control information. “And they want to control all the information that you get. Because they desperately don’t want you to think for yourself. So they work with Google and Facebook and Mainstream media to control and censor the information you receive and to discredit and demonize those that don’t go along and those that ask inconvenient questions.”

“The people controlling government: unelected conglomerates that decide what policies get written and who gets the trillions of dollars stay mostly hidden,” he added, referencing the people who quietly fund politicians in an attempt to control policy.

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Schneider concluded with one last warning, saying that the final step in the process was for the government to disarm the populace — a move that he said would turn the people into slaves.

“The only thing that’s left for the Government to do now is to completely disarm us. When that happens, if they are able to disarm us, then it’s over. We will be slaves and our children will be slaves for a 100 years,” he said. “Have a nice afternoon!”