Taylor Swift fan suing Ticketmaster for fraud over tour ticket fiasco
Taylor Swift fan Julie Barfuss and her attorney, Jennifer Kinder, on why they are suing Ticketmaster over ticket sales.
Celebrity feuds were on-trend and online in 2022.
From James Corden's bad manners revealed at a top New York eatery to Matthew Perry's obsession with Keanu Reeves – Hollywood stars suffered the consequences of public backlash.
BAD BLOOD
Taylor Swift fans waited for hours in front of their computers to grab a seat at one of the shows on her upcoming "The Eras Tour," only to miss out on a concert and then be told general sales were completely canceled due to overwhelming demand. One of Ticketmaster's largest shareholders said "14 million people" attempted to log on and purchase tickets to her 2023 tour.
TAYLOR SWIFT TICKET FIASCO: TICKETMASTER CANCELS PUBLIC SALE OF ‘THE ERAS TOUR’ DUE TO HIGH DEMAND
Taylor Swift battled against Ticketmaster, while Brittany Aldean and Candace Cameron Bure faced their own online feuds. (Getty Images)
More than 3.5 million pre-registered Swifties queued up during the "Verified Fan" pre-sales but were never able to buy a seat after Ticketmaster sold more than 2 million tickets in the initial rush. The company, under the Live Nation banner, later canceled the public sale due to "insufficient remaining ticket inventory."
Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, discussed the fiasco on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." Verified fans were given codes to enter the Ticketmaster pre-sale, but many claimed their codes did not work.
"It’s a function of Taylor Swift. The site was supposed to open up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans," Maffei said. "We had 14 million people hit the site, including bots, which are not supposed to be there."
On the day general sale tickets were supposed to be made available, Swift broke her silence and addressed the disaster.
Taylor Swift accepted the Favorite Music Video award for "All Too Well: The Short Film" during the 2022 American Music Awards. (Matt Winkelmeyer)
"It goes without saying that I'm extremely protective of my fans," Swift wrote. "There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I'm trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward. I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them."
But it was too little, too late for some Swifties who then filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The suit alleges Ticketmaster engaged in antitrust violations, deceptive practices, fraud and price-fixing during the ticket sale fiasco. It also accuses Ticketmaster of encouraging scalpers because the company earns income from fees when tickets are resold on its platform.
The Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation of Ticketmaster in the wake of the fiasco. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and urged the consumer protection agency to clarify what it's doing to crack down on ticket scammers who use bots to hoard tickets.
TikTok Trouble
Candace Cameron Bure and JoJo Siwa battled each other online earlier this summer after the former "Dance Moms" star branded Bure the "rudest celebrity" she had ever met.
The "Full House" actress later cleared the air with Siwa and said there was "no drama" following a "great conversation."
Candace Cameron Bure weighed in after JoJo Siwa called her a rude celebrity. (Paul Archuleta/File)
JoJo Siwa found fame at a young age starring on the reality television series "Dance Moms." (David Livingston/File)
Siwa initially met Bure at the "Fuller House" premiere, and Siwa said the actress didn't stop to take pictures with her on the red carpet.
"You said to me ‘not right now’ and proceeded to take pictures with others."
Bure recalled of her conversation with Siwa, "Oh, I’m so sorry you weren’t even mean, and I get it now as an adult. At that time you were 11 and I broke your 11-year-old heart. Especially as a mom it breaks my heart that I made you feel that way."
Bure added that it was important to remain mindful and 10-second social media clips can cause damage.
When reports surfaced in November that Bure's new network, Great American Family, would not be featuring same-sex couples in their films, JoJo slammed Bure for her lack of inclusion.
"Honestly, I can't believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press," she wrote on Instagram.
"This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people."
Country Conflict
Brittany Aldean created a video reel on Instagram earlier this year that showed her 2 million followers how she transforms from a relatively makeup-free face into full glam with the flick of a foundation brush while Beyoncé and Jay-Z's "Upgrade U" played on the clip.
Brittany Aldean responded to backlash following a video shared on Instagram. She attended the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards in March with husband Jason Aldean. (Steve Granitz/File)
She captioned the post, "I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life."
Country music singers Cassadee Pope and Maren Morris were just a few of the many to criticize the seconds-long video. Pope tweeted, "You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their "tomboy phase" to someone wanting to transition. Real nice."
Morris added, "it's so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie."
BRITTANY ALDEAN'S COMMENTS ON GENDER ARE PRAISED AND BASHED BY STARS
Aldean, who married the "You Make It Easy" crooner, Jason Aldean, in 2015, received hundreds of thousands of likes on her post, including comments from Lara Trump, Jon Pardi's wife, Summer, and husband Jason, who wrote, "Lmao!! Im glad they didn’t too, cause you and I wouldn’t have worked out."
Maren Morris (pictured at Stagecoach in April) told Brittany Aldean to "zip it" in a Twitter response to Cassadee Pope's post. (Rich Fury/File)
Cassadee Pope (seen in 2022) hit out at Brittany Aldean following a "tomboy" post on Instagram. (Michael Loccisano/File)
Aldean shared Pope's message on Instagram with the follow-up, "Advocating for the genital mutilation of children under the disguise of love and calling it ‘gender affirming care,’ is one of the worst evils. I will always support my children and do what I can do protect their innocence. The other day Memphis wanted to be a dinosaur and tomorrow Navy will want to be a cat. They're children."
"Some parents want to be accepted by society so badly that they're willing to make life-altering decisions for their children who aren't old enough to fully comprehend the consequences of those actions. Love is protecting your child until they are mature enough as an adult to make their own life decisions. Until then, leave children alone."
Jason Aldean's wife also responded to the "My Church" singer and wrote, "Karen (sic) Morris, thanks for calling me Barbie." Shortly after their social media interaction, Morris created an online fundraiser through sales of a T-shirt, and more than $150,000 was raised to benefit transgender programs.
DINING DISPUTE
James Corden was banned from Keith McNally's posh New York eatery, Balthazar, in October after the restaurateur claimed that the late-night host had been "abusive" toward his staff.
McNally called Corden a "tiny Cretin of a man" in an Instagram post, alleging that the actor verbally abused restaurant staff and made a fuss about the food he was served.
"[He's] the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago," McNally wrote. "I don’t often 86 a customer, [but] today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh." — "86" is culinary slang that refers to nixing unavailable menu items or, in this case, customers who are no longer welcome.
Keith McNally is known for his restaurants Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern and Morandi. (Erik T. Kaiser/Patrick McMullan/File)
McNally continued to rant about Corden's request for free drinks and complaints over an omelette being prepared incorrectly. After a server returned to the table with a new omelette, the kitchen staff mistakenly paired the dish with home fries instead of the salad that Corden's wife had ordered. Corden then began "yelling like crazy" at the server. The restaurant's managers were threatened with "nasty reviews in Yelp" but seemed to smooth things over with free champagne and a barrage of apologies.
Shortly after his initial post, the famed restaurateur shared that the "Cats" actor had seen his social media rant and called him to apologize "profusely." McNally then reversed the ban.
"Having f––ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances," the Balthazar owner wrote in a different Instagram post.
He took a chance to ask Corden if he could host an episode of the CBS show before Corden's exit next year and encouraged him to return to the eatery.
"But… anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere," McNally wrote. "All is Forgiven. xx"
NOT SO FRIENDLY
Matthew Perry had to clarify he’s actually a "big fan" of Keanu Reeves after excerpts of his book, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," made some believe he didn’t even like the "Speed" actor.
While detailing his own trials and tribulations with addiction, Perry appeared to take aim at one particular person for coming out on top.
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Matthew Perry claimed he spent "probably $9 million" trying to get sober through the years. (David M. Benett/File)
Matthew Perry faced backlash for unprompted remarks made against Keanu Reeves, above. (Albert L. Ortega/File)
"River [Phoenix] was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out," Perry wrote in his debut memoir, which was released in November. "It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?"
He continued ravaging Reeves in another section as he wrote about Chris Farley: "His disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word 'heroin,' a fear we did not share). I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston's dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us."
The Internet went wild in support of "The Matrix" star, with a host of A-list stars backing Reeves.
Linda Carter wrote, "Come on... Keanu Reeves is like one of those frozen cakes. Nobody doesn't like him!"
"West Side Story" actress Rachel Zegler tweeted, "personally thrilled that keanu reeves walks among us."
Perry later clarified to People magazine, "I'm actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead."
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