The outspoken conservative country-rock star Kid Rock is calling on artists to step-up and speak out against entertainment conglomerate Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster, calling them “crooks.”
Rock, a longtime ally and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has been outspoken about the ongoing issues within the ticketing industry. Last year, he met with Attorney General Pam Bondi, promising to “open a can of whoop a– on the bots, scalpers, venues, ticketing companies, managers and artists alike who rip off and deceive the public with the horse s–t that has gone on for decades and only gotten worse.”
Then, earlier this year, Rock joined President Trump when he signed a new executive order in the Oval Office which aimed to open an investigation into the matter of “price-gouging by middleman” and assess the state of the ticketing industry.
The investigation resulted in the FTC filing suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging that the companies engaged in “deceptive pricing tactics and earned hundreds of millions selling tickets acquired illegally by brokers, costing consumers billions of dollars in inflated prices and additional fees.”
| READ: Ticketmaster Under Fire: FTC Lawsuit Over Hidden Fees, DOJ Antitrust Case Explained |
Now, Rock is calling on other artists to come forward against the pair.
“So there was some of the people in the business talking about ticketing, that when Trump — President Trump — did that executive order with me in the Oval Office, that these, know-it-alls out in California we’re like, ‘Oh, they’re just showboating. It really did nothing,'” Rock said.
“What he did was he ordered the FTC & the Department of Justice to go investigate and see what the hell is going on with ticketing Well, guess what? They investigated and what happened? They filed a f*cking lawsuit against Ticketmaster, because clearly they found out that those motherf*ckers are crooks, and they’ve been crooks for decades. F*cking over the public. F*cking over artists.”
Rock said that “we’ll see if any other artists get onboard,” adding that “a lot of them will puss out.”
“Let’s see if Pearl Jam steps up,” Rock said. “They wanted to fix ticketing years ago. They probably won’t, because they’ll be like, ‘Oh, we hate Donald Trump. We have Trump derangement syndrome.’ All these other presidents could have f*cking done something. Bush, Obama, Clinton, they didn’t do sh*t. Nobody has. Trump did. Trump is, we are. So, calling your bluffs right now, let’s see what happens. Rock on.”
Notably, Pearl Jam took legal action against Ticketmaster in 1994, alleging that the company held a monopoly over ticket prices. Since then, things have taken a turn for the worst; this past year, fans across all genres — from Green Day and Sleep Token to Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo — have complained of the inability to obtain concert tickets due to exorbitant ticket prices, lashing out at both artists and promoters.
Following Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour presale fiasco, the Department of Justice launched a lawsuit against Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster, citing anticompetitive and monopolistic practices. The suit, which has a trial date for 2026, aims to break-up the pair. Attorneys General from 39 states plus the District of Columbia are signed on as co-plaintiffs in the case — representing a wide spectrum from blue states like California to red states like Alabama.
While the U.S. is politically divided, one issue remains bipartisan: ticket prices have gotten out of control.
