By Josh Sisco and Lucas Shaw
The US Justice Department is conducting a criminal antitrust probe into how companies responded to mass concert cancellations at the outset of the pandemic in 2020, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The investigation is focused on whether Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and AEG Presents illegally colluded on refund policies for canceled concerts and dealt with artists to limit losses, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the confidential probe. Prosecutors have weighed bringing charges, including against Live Nation and its Chief Executive Officer Michael Rapino, some of the people said.
At the outset of Covid, Live Nation, AEG and talent agencies publicly disclosed an industry-wide effort to respond to the crisis. Antitrust scrutiny of that initiative began during the Biden administration, but has ramped up since President Donald Trump took office with prosecutors in the DOJ’s antitrust division continuing to conduct interviews and review documents, some of the people said.
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