Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
Our critics are comparing this settlement to the irrational hope of breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. For the actual claims in this case, the DOJ and settling states got as much or more as they could have expected to win in court.
The only reason we went above the Antitrust Division to senior DOJ leadership is because no one there would speak to us. When you’ve been unable to get a meeting for six months, you have every right to try something else.
— Dan Wall, Live Nation’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs and its top in-house lawyer, in comments given to the Wall Street Journal, defending the Justice Department’s surprise settlement of its antitrust case against Live Nation following CEO Michael Rapino’s Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump. Trump reportedly intervened in the case and urged the DOJ to reach a settlement, a turn of events the Journal described as “bizarre.”
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.