Wait, could they still break Live Nation?

A federal court found on Wednesday that Live Nation had been operating illegally – a ruling that could bring the entertainment giant and its ticketing company, Ticketmaster, to a settlement and bring relief to concertgoers. patients about strong trees and fees for unspecified services.

The ruling came as internal Slack messages surfaced in the lawsuit showed Live Nation employees joking about taking advantage of customers — including a discussion about parking fees that prosecutors argued showed how the company views its customers.

The decision is the latest development in a series of cases that began with the Ministry of Justice and 40 attorney generals. the defendant Live Nation in 2024 for claiming independence. The two companies merged in 2010 to create an entertainment giant that controlled the majority of the country’s ticketing and booking industry, which led to competition from other companies, according to the lawsuit. With no meaningful competition, customers had no choice but to accept Live Nation’s questionable types of treeswhich critics say benefits the company, not the artists.

Last month, the DOJ just to settle down and Live Nation, where another federal lawsuit was already pending. But 34 of the Attorney General pressed forward – and on Wednesday, the jury handed down its verdict.

During the trial that many people followed, a Gentle messages was a meeting between two Live Nation employees: Ben Baker, who is now head of tickets for Venue Nation, and Jeff Weinhold, who is now head of the ticketing department.

“These people are very stupid,” Baker said in discussing the parking rate hike. “It feels so good to give them a chance BAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”

In a later discussion, and about parking fees, Baker said, “Robbing the blind.”

Live Nation said the words represent “nonsense criticism, not facts, decision-making, or consequences.”

As part of the DOJ’s settlement, Live Nation must pay a $280 million fine and remove at least 13 venues, requiring the venues to accept bookings from competing promoters. But given the jury’s finding that Live Nation acted unconstitutionally, the consequences could be even more dire.

What will happen next is unknown. Judge Arun Subramanian is yet to find answers later. But the possibility of ending Live Nation and Ticketmaster remains on the table.