The third week of Live Nation’s antitrust trial featured testimony from the new CEO of Oak View Group (OVG) about the company’s controversial client-steering arrangement with Ticketmaster, while Live Nation’s first defense witness said there are “lots of promoter options” for top touring acts.

You’re reading Billboard’s weekly Live Nation trial recap, a weekly one-sheet of everything that happened in the monopoly case against the concert giant. Stay tuned here each Friday for all the testimony and big events you might have missed.

WHAT HAPPENED: State attorneys general largely concluded their case-in-chief against Live Nation — though technically they have not rested and plan to call a few more witnesses later on due to scheduling issues — while Live Nation began putting on its own witnesses. The defense case is expected to run for another week and include testimony from Drake’s manager, Adel Nur, aka Future the Prince.

Recall that the monopoly case is now being led by states because the Department of Justice (DOJ) struck a settlement with Live Nation a week into trial. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that President Donald Trump personally pushed for the deal on the recommendation of Endeavor CEO and former Live Nation board member Ari Emanuel.

Though the DOJ settlement calls on Live Nation to curb some allegedly anticompetitive practices, it would not require the divestment of Ticketmaster. Meanwhile, states including New York and California are pushing forward with the continued goal of breaking up the two live events giants.

WHO TESTIFIED: Chris Granger, who took over as CEO of OVG following the indictment of founder Tim Leiweke on federal bid-rigging charges last year, was called as a government witness on Wednesday (March 25) to talk about the venue management company’s $20 million client-steering arrangement with Ticketmaster. As was required by the terms of a non-prosecution agreement in the Leiweke case, Granger confirmed that OVG was paid to encourage venues to choose Ticketmaster as their exclusive primary ticketing vendor — and that it did not disclose this incentive arrangement to clients.

While not illegal, the states allege that the secret fees between OVG and Ticketmaster bolstered Live Nation’s anticompetitive edge. Law360 reports that Granger, being grilled about why this arrangement wasn’t disclosed to clients, testified, “I don’t know why, we should have.”

Granger did testify, however, that he would recommend Ticketmaster to venues regardless of any incentive because it’s a superior platform to AXS or SeatGeek. “It still has the biggest database [and] it has the best name recognition, so when you’re trying to sell tickets, it has a bit of a marketing halo,” explained Granger.  

Live Nation began its defense case on Thursday (March 26) with a key witness who countered that the company is not a monopolist: Omar Al-joulani, Live Nation’s president of touring. According to Courthouse News Service, Al-joulani testified that he works with top touring acts like Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Imagine Dragons — but that Live Nation doesn’t have long-term contracts with these stars and has to constantly prove it’s the best choice among promoters.

“There are lots of promoter options,” said Al-joulani, noting that the company has lost out on business with top artists like Morgan Wallen and Bruce Springsteen. “I can’t stress [enough] how competitive the business is.”

The jury also heard this week from Nicholas Hill and Rosa M. Abrantes-Metz, two PhD economists who are serving as the states’ expert witnesses, as well as Ticketmaster’s global president Mark Yovich and former AEG Presents president Rick Mueller.

WHY IT MATTERS: Granger’s testimony was a big deal because OVG has been a big part of the Live Nation antitrust case since the beginning. In its initial 2024 complaint, the DOJ alleged that OVG operated as a “pimp” and “hammer” to protect Ticketmaster exclusivity arrangements, which are central to the monopoly claims.

OVG stipulated to some of these facts as part of its non-prosecution deal in the Leiweke case — a separate criminal antitrust proceeding related to the construction of the Moody Center in Austin. That prosecution is now dead, however, because Trump pardoned Leiweke in December.  The DOJ had been hoping to get Leiweke to testify at the Live Nation trial, too, but his pardon seems to have scuttled that effort.

As for the defense case so far, Al-joulani’s testimony bolsters Live Nation’s consistent argument that there is robust competition in all areas of the live entertainment business, including touring, venue ownership and ticketing. The company says any attempts to prove otherwise are based on misleading metrics.

Chuck Redd, the musician who canceled a Christmas Eve performance at the Kennedy Center in protest of President Donald Trump’s influence over the venue, is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit the performing arts institution brought against him.

In a motion filed in D.C. Superior Court on Friday, lawyers for Redd said the breach of contract suit should be dismissed because he wasn’t contractually obligated to perform. The motion included the contract provided by the Kennedy Center, which the artist never signed.

But his lawyers argued there was more at stake than contract law, portraying the Kennedy Center’s suit as an effort to intimidate artists.

“The Trump Kennedy Center filed this lawsuit to send a message to anyone who dares to publicly disagree with the decisions of those in power,” lawyers Debra S. Katz and Lisa J. Banks said in a statement.Sue

Representatives for the Kennedy Center didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the motion.

Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has presided over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006. He called off last year’s performance shortly after Trump’s handpicked board at the Kennedy Center voted to add the president’s name to the facility.

“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email at the time.

Within days of his decision, Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center’s president at the time, sent him a letter calling the cancellation “classic intolerance and very costly to a nonprofit Arts institution.” Grenell threatened to seek $1 million in damages and the Kennedy Center filed suit on March 6.

Grenell left his post earlier this month and was replaced by Matt Floca, who previously managed the Kennedy Center’s facilities operations. Trump is closing the Kennedy Center later this summer for renovations that are expected to last roughly two years.

This story was originally published by The Associated Press.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is firing back at Drake’s appeal seeking to revive his lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” arguing the superstar is trying to “critically undermine” the art of hip-hop because he’s upset he lost a rap beef.

Drake’s case accused UMG of defaming him by releasing Lamar’s Grammy-winning diss track, which blasted the rival rapper as a “certified pedophile.” But a judge dismissed it in October by ruling fans wouldn’t think insults in a rap battle were statements of fact.

Last month, the superstar appealed that ruling in an effort to overturn it. But in its brief on Friday, UMG said that appeal was a non-starter because it aimed to “strip words from their context.”

“That is not the law, and Drake’s view would critically undermine a highly creative art form built on exaggeration, insult, and wordplay,” UMG’s attorneys write.

Lamar released “Not Like Us” in May 2024 as the knock-out punch in a series of bruising diss tracks between the two stars. The song was not only seen as a final rhetorical victory, but also went on to become a chart-topping hit in its own right, cleaning up at the Grammy Awards and forming the centerpiece of Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.

Drake sued UMG in January 2025, stunning the music industry. Few expected a rapper to respond to a diss track with a lawsuit — a move that drew ridicule in the hip-hop world. Fewer still expected him to file it against UMG, his longtime label and the biggest music company in the world.

Making matters worse for Drake, Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the case in October. She said Kendrick’s insulting lyrics were the kind of “hyperbolic” opinions that cannot be considered defamatory because reasonable listeners would not think they were “sober” statements of fact that could be proven true or false.

In his appeal in January, Drake’s lawyers argued that “millions of people” took the lyric literally, causing “countless individuals around the globe to believe that Drake was a pedophile.” They said the ruling “brushes aside the risk of concrete reputational harms” simply because allegedly defamatory statements came in a rap track.

But in their response on Friday (May 27), UMG said that such context was all-important. The “pedophile” statement came after Drake himself had accused Kendrick of “beating his fiancée and not fathering one of his children,” in a genre that is built on such bombastic insults.

“’Not Like Us’ falls within a genre typified by inflammatory putdowns, epithets, fiery rhetoric, vulgarity, and hyperbole,” UMG’s lawyers write. “Drake’s attempt to rip the words he now dislikes from their immediate and broader context has no support in governing law.”

The case will be argued before the appeals court in the months ahead, with a ruling expected at some point in the next year. An attorney for Drake did not immediately return a request for comment.

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Ahead of the release of his latest album Bully, Ye (formerly Kanye West) announced a pair of upcoming shows in Los Angeles, making it his first U.S. stadium concert since 2021’s Free Larry Hoover benefit show with Drake. The Chicago rapper will be setting up shop at popular Inglewood, Calif. venue SoFi Stadium on April 1 and 3.

When the news broke about the show, Yeezy fans flooded Ticketmaster during the pre and general tickets release window on March 11. While tickets are mostly sold out now, the best chance for concert goers to secure a seat at SoFI is turning to various resell sites like StubHub and Seat Geek.

How to Buy Ye Concert Tickets, At a Glance

Dubbed “Ye Live in Los Angeles” by SoFi Stadium’s website, the two-night show coincides with the launch of Kanye’s long-awaited Bully album, which is expected to release today, March 27. He revealed the tracklist earlier this week alongside hosting listening events across major cities, including New York City, Los Angeles and London. He also livestreamed the LA listening party on his YouTube channel. However, the album has still not made its way to streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music as of writing this.

Ye’s last SoFi Stadium appearance came during Rolling Loud 2024 with Ty Dolla $ign, which was more of a “listening event” than a typical concert. As we patiently wait for Bully to drop on streaming, shop affordable Ye tickets below.

Where to Shop Last-Minute Ye Tickets Online

With resell sites like StubHub, SeatGeek and Gametime, Ye fans can shop available concert tickets to SoFi stadium online and securely. Below, ShopBillboard put together a list of affordable ticket options, including exclusive discount codes that can save you up to $500.

StubHub

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You can find Kanye West tickets on StubHub from $310 and take advantage of the site’s filters to find the best tickets available. Choose from the number of tickets needed, price and even have estimated fees included in the cost, so there are no hidden surprises. Plus, each purchase is protected by StubHub’s FanProtect, which you can learn more about here.

Vivid Seats

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Vivid Seats has Ye tickets from $115 and help you determine the best offers available by labeling what dates have deals. You can even save $20 off orders of $200+ when you use the code BB2024 at checkout. When sifting through tickets, you can sort by the price as well as if the offer is from a site SuperSeller (sellers who are highly-rated and experienced) as well as the seat(s) are in the front of your desired section.

Your purchase will also be covered by the Vivid Seats Buyer Guarantee, which can you read more about here.

SeatGeek

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Seat Geek is another affordable option to find cheap Kanye West tickets with options as low as $123. The resale ticketing site uses a ranking system with a scale of 1-10 to show which options are the best deal. Tickets marked a one are considered the worst deal whereas options rated a 10 are considered the best deals. Bonus offer: First purchases are eligible to receive $10 off orders of $250+ when you use the code BILLBOARD10 at checkout.

Gametime

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Gametime promises to be the go-to destination for the cheapest last-minute tickets to the Ye concert and more live events. Right now, you can find options for as low as $123, and score an extra $20 off purchases of $150+ when you enter the code SAVE20 at checkout. Found cheaper options on another site? The Gametime Price Guarantee will give you 110% of the difference back when you show proof to the resale site.

TicketNetwork

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You can find cheap Kanye West tickets on Ticketnetwork starting at $129. You can also get $150 off purchases of $500+ when you use the code BILLBOARD150 at checkout or $300 off orders of $1,000+ when you use the promo code BILLBOARD300. To help find the best options, the site provides an interactive map that lets you see how many tickets are left in each section in addition to being able to pick exactly where you want to sit and sort options based on price per ticket.

Rebecca Black helped –196 Vodka Seltzer transform a New York City gallery space into an immersive experience inspired by Tokyo culture. 

At an event dubbed Konbini Backroom on Thursday night, March 26, the rising star performed a DJ set and helped the brand lean into the idea of discovering something exciting in a familiar place. After attendees walked into a konbini, the Japanese term for a convenience store, they were met with iconic Japanese snacks and refrigerators stocked with flavors of –196 Vodka Seltzer, including Lemon, Strawberry, Peach and Grapefruit. However, that was only the beginning of the experience. A speakeasy-style transition then led guests into a dance party, with tunes provided by the star. 

Amid her hour-long set, Black spun her hit “Sugar Water Cyanide”, as well as throwbacks from the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Fergie. Scroll on below to see all the hot shots from the invite-only event!  

–196 Vodka Seltzer transformed a New York City venue into a Tokyo-style convenience store pop-up with help from Rebecca Black, marking yet a buzzy moment for the rising star ahead of new music.

Billboard attended the event, dubbed Konbini Backroom, on Thursday night, March 27, where we spoke with the pop star-turned-DJ about her partnership with the fruit-flavored vodka seltzer brand. “I am so excited to be a part of this event because it’s bringing the nightlife of Tokyo and kobini culture to New York,” she said prior to her set. “It’s really a once in a lifetime moment right here in New York.” 

Black’s DJ set at the Lower East Side gallery space played into the idea of discovering something exciting in a familiar place. Fans walked into what appeared as a Japanese-style kobini, only to make their way through a speakeasy-style walkway to a secret dance party. The self-made star explained that she also plays into the element of surprise when it comes to her sets. “I always want a track in there that people won’t be expecting to hear that night, she said. “But one that’ll bring so much joy and surprise that they did, whether it’s some deranged ‘Crazy Frog’ reggaeton mix or a ‘Friday’ mashup or anything else I come across.”

Next up for Black is the follow-up to her 2025 album, SALVATION, a new chapter of music she has been teasing to her 1.1 million followers on Instagram. She also has upcoming performances slated for Diplo’s HonkyTonk at Stagecoach and Beyond Wonderland in the coming months. The music was created while she was on and off the road during her SALVATION TOUR. 

“It’s been so fulfilling to intertwine my world of dance into what I do more and more, and see the songs that were already going down that path be the ones to connect with my audience the most,” the star said of her sonic trajectory. “’Sugar Water Cyanide’ was by far the heaviest track off my last project, and seeing it become the one everyone knows was so validating to begin creating from again. This new music is heavier, harder, faster and louder than anything I’ve made before.” 

Black’s appearance comes on the heels of the 15-year anniversary of her surprise viral breakout, “Friday.” While her early social media virality will always be a part of her story, she’s come a long way since surviving the internet in 2011 with the single. After all, you don’t go from a song like “Friday” to the Boiler Room stage and a spot on Forbes’ 2026 30 Under 30 Music list for nothing.