Live Nation executives and lobbyists have been negotiating with senior DOJ officials outside the antitrust division to avert a trial over whether the company is operating an illegal monopoly that has driven up concert prices, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of those talks have sidelined antitrust chief Gail Slater, who inherited the Live Nation case from the Biden administration but has pursued it toward a trial set for March.
Tensions have been simmering for months between the Trump administration’s largely business-friendly accommodation and Slater’s more skeptical approach to corporate mergers. Her authority has been challenged in several high-profile cases, diminishing hopes in both progressive and populist MAGA circles for tough antitrust enforcement.
Last year, HPE and Juniper avoided an antitrust challenge to their $14 billion merger by appealing directly to top Trump DOJ officials who overruled Slater’s team, Semafor and other outlets reported. A large merger of real-estate brokerages similarly was greenlit by higher-ups over the objections of Slater and antitrust staffers, one of whom went public in August with concerns about pay-for-play merger approvals.
In a smaller flashpoint this week, Slater was prevented from cutting loose her own chief of staff after Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened, Semafor reported Friday.
“This report contains misinformation about an ongoing matter that is confidential, but what can be said is that AAG Slater is very much involved” in the Live Nation matter, a Justice Department spokesman said. “Anonymous attempts to alter markets or outcomes will not undermine the integrity of this process. This DOJ will always pursue what is in the best interest of the American people.”
A Live Nation spokeswoman didn’t comment.