Live Nation and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement over the DOJ’s antitrust claims against the live music giant, according to court documents filed Monday.
Details of the agreement weren’t disclosed. It remains subject to court approval.
The deal puts the states, which moved for a mistrial on Monday, that sued alongside the DOJ in a difficult position. Lawyers for the states said they were unaware of any settlement discussions until after a jury was empaneled last week. They said they were deliberately “kept in the dark and excluded materially” from those talks and were only informed of the near-final terms on Thursday evening, with one day to decide whether to accept them.
“Due to the substantial prejudice caused by this settlement and DOJ’s abrupt exit after taking the lead role up to and during the first week of trial, a mistrial is warranted,” the filing reads.
While the government’s pursuit of the case could end, some of the 39 states that sued alongside the DOJ are expected to continue to pursue it as well. New York attorney general Letitia James said the settlement “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case,” adding that “we will continue our lawsuit to protect consumers and restore fair competition to the live entertainment industry.”
Per the New York Times, lawyers told Judge Arun Subramanian in court on Monday that Live Nation and the DOJ settled on Thursday, which angered Subramanian as the judge hadn’t been briefed on the settlement Friday.
“It shows absolute disrespect for the court, the jury and this entire process,” Judge Subramanian said Monday, per the Times, further saying he expects Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and DOJ acting assistant attorney general Omeed A. Assefi to be in court Tuesday to discuss the settlement. “It is absolutely unacceptable.”
The notion of a settlement began to seem more likely in the weeks leading up to the trial after assistant as general Gail Slater stepped down from her post in February. Live Nation was reportedly talking with other DOJ officials outside of the antitrust division looking to settle, though the case proceeded after Subramanian denied Live Nation’s motion to dismiss the case last month while cutting out some claims to narrow the suit.
After the decision, Live Nation executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs had penned a blog post saying it was “time to move on” from the case, arguing that the cuts dismissed the DOJ’s monopoly claims. The blog post was subsequently removed days later.
Reps for Live Nation didn’t immediately respond to request for comment on the settlement.
