Live Nation’s move to appoint Trump ally Richard Grenell to its board of directors caused a stir in the live music business this week, as several music executives who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter slammed the pick as a transactional move in the company’s attempt to squash the monopoly lawsuit Live Nation faces against the Department of Justice.
Grenell is a longtime Trump ally, previously serving as U.S. ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, and he was appointed the interim executive director at the Kennedy Center after the president seized control of the Center back in February. The DOJ first sued Live Nation a year ago, claiming the company uses its dominance in concert promotion and in ticketing with Ticketmaster to stifle competition, calling to break up the company.
“It’s not a shock to see this because it’s obviously right in front of us,” says Gary Witt, president and CEO of Milwaukee-based Pabst Theater Group. “Right in front of our very eyes you’re watching a transaction take place where one group is trying to buy their way out of the DOJ and 40 state attorneys pursuing them.”
The DOJ first sued Live Nation a year ago, claiming the company uses its dominance in concert promotion and in ticketing with Ticketmaster to stifle competition, calling to break up the company. Live Nation has consistently denied the DOJ’s claims. Dan Wall, the company’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, wrote last year that the complaint misleads the public into thinking that ticket prices will be lower if something is done about Live Nation and Ticketmaster. DOJ is not helping consumers with their actual problems.”
When asked for comment on the claims on Grenell’s appointment, a Live Nation representative pointed THR to the company’s announcement from Tuesday. “We are pleased to welcome Ric to our Board,” Randall Mays, Live Nation Entertainment’s chairman of the board, said in a statement Tuesday. “His background will bring a valuable perspective as Live Nation continues to contribute to a growing live music industry around the globe.”
A second music executive, who requested anonymity citing fear of retaliation from Live Nation, called Grenell’s appointment “the most thinly-veiled attempt to clash a legal proceeding that I’ve seen.”
“What expertise is he able to provide other than his access to Trump,” the executive says. “What value does he provide? It’s just so obvious. if he wasn’t closely aligned with Trump, would they have ever picked him? If they didn’t have a lawsuit filed by the DOJ would they have appointed him? The answer to both is likely no.”
Grinell’s appointment comes as the live music business has been looking for indications on how aggressively the Trump administration would pursue the Live Nation case it inherited from the Biden administration. Whether Grinell’s appointment would have any impact on the case going forward isn’t clear yet.
“Of course there’s people who are thinking the case is finished now, but I think you can come to the opposite conclusion too,” says a policy expert who’s followed the DOJ case closely, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “You can just as easily argue Live Nation knows they’re in trouble and is just increasingly desperate that they use this obvious ploy.”
Aside from the civil suit, news broke last week that the DOJ is considering separate criminal charges against Live Nation and rival AEG over collusion allegations regarding their responses to refunds for pandemic-era concert cancellations. Live Nation denied the claims.
“We did not collude with AEG or anyone else,” Wall said last week. “We are proud of our leadership during those trying times, and if any charges result from this investigation, we will defend them vigorously.”
The appointment comes as Trump himself has grown increasingly combative with superstar artists online in recent days. After Bruce Springsteen criticized the Trump administration during a recent concert in the U.K., Trump sent a vaguely threatening message out on Truth Social, writing that Springsteen “ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare’. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
Earlier this week, Trump had called for a “major investigation” into the appearances for artists like Springsteen, Beyoncé and Bono at Kamala Harris’s presidential rallies.
