The Room Where the Deal Was Made
On June 22, 2026, Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster filed Document 1534 in Case 1:24-cv-03973-AS in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The filing is a certification required under the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 16(g). The Tunney Act requires such disclosures to allow judicial and public review of whether the proposed settlement serves the public interest.
Live Nation filed it themselves. It is their own sworn certification to a federal judge.
The document lists the representatives of
Live Nation who substantively participated in one or more of these communications. Michael Rapino, Live Nation President and Chief Executive Officer. Joe Berchtold, Live Nation President and Chief Financial Officer. Dan Wall, Live Nation Executive Vice President Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. Richard Grenell, Live Nation Director. Adam Paris, James McDonald, and Kyle Mach, Partners at Sullivan and Cromwell LLP and Live Nation advisors. Gabe Fleet, Partner at Latham and Watkins LLP and Live Nation advisor. William Levi, Partner at Sidley Austin LLP and Live Nation advisor. Kellyanne Conway, Consultant at KAConsulting LLC, retained by Live Nation. Mike Davis, Founder and Managing Partner at MRDLaw, retained by Live Nation.
The list includes Live Nation executives and outside counsel from three major law firms. It also includes political consultants and figures with ties to the Trump administration.
Richard Grenell served as Acting Director of National Intelligence under President Trump. Kellyanne Conway served as Counselor to the President in the Trump White House. Mike Davis served as counsel to Senator Chuck Grassley and was reported by the Wall Street Journal to have access to senior DOJ leadership including the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The document states that between February and June 2025 representatives of Live Nation including Davis and Levi sought to open settlement discussions with the DOJ Antitrust Division. Settlement discussions began in September 2025. Live Nation made an initial proposal. DOJ countered in January 2026.
In February 2026 Michael Rapino discussed a variety of topics related to Live Nation’s business with President Donald J. Trump. According to the filing the status of the DOJ lawsuit came up but no substantive terms regarding any potential settlement were discussed.
On March 5, 2026 representatives of Live Nation, the Antitrust Division, the Offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, and the Office of the White House Counsel all met to finalize the material terms of the proposed settlement. A Term Sheet was signed that day.
The antitrust trial had begun March 2 2026. The settlement was signed on day four.
Document 1534 discloses that the Office of the White House Counsel participated in the March 5, 2026 meeting where the material terms were finalized.
On February 12, 2026 Gail Slater, then Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, announced her departure from the Department of Justice. Multiple outlets reported she was forced out. She was replaced on an acting basis by Omeed Assefi.
Roger Alford, Slater’s principal deputy who was also removed, warned publicly afterward that Live Nation and Ticketmaster had paid a bevy of cozy MAGA friends to roam the halls of the Antitrust Division in defense of their monopoly abuses. That statement was reported by the Wall Street Journal.
According to sworn testimony reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Alford stated that Mike Davis told Slater during a separate matter: “If you don’t approve this settlement I will destroy you. I will destroy your job at the DOJ.” Davis admitted recommending Slater’s firing to anyone who would listen including Attorney General Bondi. Davis has denied making the threat.
On April 14, 2026 six United States senators wrote directly to Judge Arun Subramanian. Signed by Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, and Peter Welch. The senators wrote that the settlement appeared to be a deal made in response to political pressure rather than the public interest.
On April 15, 2026 a federal jury found Live Nation liable for illegally monopolizing the live music business.
More than thirty states including California and New York rejected the federal settlement as insufficient and continued litigating independently. They retained Jeffrey Kessler of Winston and Strawn as lead counsel. The states won.
Live Nation donated five hundred thousand dollars to the Trump inauguration committee while the federal antitrust case was pending. That donation is documented in Federal Election Commission records.
Live Nation has maintained that its communications were proper and that the settlement was in the public interest. The company continues to contest the jury verdict through post-trial motions.
As of June 24, 2026 Judge Subramanian continues Tunney Act review of the DOJ settlement alongside the states ongoing remedies phase following the April 15 jury verdict.
Six senators said no one representing the interests of artists was in that room.
Document 1534 filed itself. The record is public.
We still reported.
Primary source held and available upon request.
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