Taylor Swift fan DROPS class action against lawsuit against Live Nation over Eras Tour ticket debacle… amid singer’s 34th birthday celebrations
A Taylor Swift fan has dropped her lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster over the Eras Tour ticket sales debacle.
Michelle Sterioff, the lead plaintiff in a federal class action lawsuit against the companies, filed to dismiss her complaint alleging the companies allowed scalpers to purchase tickets, Billboard reported on Wednesday.
Sterioff filed a voluntary resignation letter on December 12 in a federal court in California.
An earlier filing in the case showed Sterioff was actively involved in settlement negotiations. It is unclear whether a settlement has been reached.
Weeks after last year's failed pre-sale of Eras Tour tickets in November 2022, Sterioff alleged that Ticketmaster had violated antitrust laws and engaged in anti-competitive and deceptive conduct.
A Taylor Swift fan dropped her lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster over the Eras Tour ticket sales debacle on Tuesday; Swift seen in November
Michelle Sterioff, the lead plaintiff in a federal class action lawsuit against the companies, filed to dismiss her complaint alleging the companies allowed scalpers to purchase tickets
The pre-sale debacle caused widespread service delays and website crashes as millions of fans tried – and many failed – to buy tickets.
In its initial complaint, Sterioff and her attorneys alleged, “Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled millions of fans into believing that it would deter bots and scalpers from participating in the presale.”
They continued: 'However, millions of fans were unable to purchase tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix presale and the Capital One presale, largely due to unprecedented website traffic caused by Ticketmaster, which allowed 14 million unverified Ticketmaster users and a 'staggering' number of bots to gain access got to the tickets. participate in the presale.”
Following the November 22, 2022 incident, Live Nation apologized to fans and blamed a “staggering number of bot attacks” and “unprecedented traffic.”
The fallout included an angry response from Swift herself.
She said she was “confident” the company could handle the high demand for tickets and “it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they've had to go through several bear attacks to get them.”
The Justice Department also increased pressure on the company, launching an antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster's owner, Live Nation Entertainment.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust Issues, suggested at the time that regulators consider “breaking up the company” — a reference to Live Nation's 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.
Weeks after last year's failed pre-sale of Eras Tour tickets in November 2022, Sterioff alleged that Ticketmaster had violated antitrust laws and engaged in anti-competitive and deceptive conduct.
Swift previously said she was “confident” the company could handle the high demand for tickets and “it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them”; seen in November
Ticketmaster apologized to Swift and her fans in November 2022 after receiving huge backlash due to the disastrous week when fans were unable to purchase tickets for her tour
In November 2023, Reuters reported that the investigation was ongoing, with federal investigators focusing on whether Live Nation was enforcing anti-competitive agreements at venues.
According to Politico's July reportThe Justice Department may file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary by the end of the year.
Ticketmaster has previously denied using anticompetitive practices and said it remained under a Justice Department consent decree after the 2010 merger, adding that there was no “evidence of systematic violations of the consent decree.”
It's thought Selena Gomez will also attend Taylor's annual birthday party
Source claims footballer Travis Taylor 'wants to feel like a princess'
Meanwhile, Swift is busy celebrating her 34th birthday, which falls on Wednesday.
Taylor spent time with her BFF Selena Gomez, actor Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry during a pre-birthday celebration after leaving her boyfriend Travis Kelce in Kansas City following his NFL game.
“Travis will be with her and he is very nervous because he wants this to be her best birthday ever,” a source told DailyMail.com. “It's not about gifts for him, even if he gets gifts for her, but he wants to give her an experience that will probably be more than just today.”