Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster filed an amended version of their disclosure of contacts with the Government about the Department of Justice settlement in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on 21 October 2026. The new version adds that President Donald J. Trump was at the 5 March 2026 meeting at which the material terms were agreed.
What the document is
Section 16(g) of the Tunney Act requires defendants to describe their communications with US officials or employees about the proposed final judgment, filed on 12 June 2026. The period runs from February 2025 to that date. The original version is dated 22 June; the amended one is document 1595 in case 1:24-cv-3973-AS. Live Nation maintains that the June filing "was complete and compliant" with the rule and that it is amending "out of an abundance of caution", following a ruling of 12 August 2026 in United States v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, in the Northern District of California.
What changes between June and October
We compared the two filings. These are the substantive changes:
- Meeting of 5 March 2026. The term sheet was signed at this meeting. In June it appeared with no mention of Trump. It now records that he "briefly appeared" and that, according to the filing, he "did not participate in any substantive discussion of the settlement".
- February 2026 call. In June, Michael Rapino, chief executive, "discussed various matters relating to Live Nation's business" with Trump, and the status of the lawsuit "came up". In October, it is Trump who calls Rapino "to discuss matters relating to the Kennedy Center" and who "asked about the status" of the case. Both versions say no substantive terms were discussed.
- Department of Justice. The Office of the Associate Attorney General is added to the offices that took part.
- States. Representatives of some plaintiff states attended meetings in March 2026. The filing does not say which.
- October 2025. A formal written proposal now appears, between the initial one of September 2025 and the Department's counteroffer of January 2026.
- Mike Davis and William Levi. In June they "sought to open settlement discussions" with the Antitrust Division between February and June 2025. In October they "sought to open a dialogue" with its leadership "about the case, including settlement possibilities".
- Participants. Two Ticketmaster names are added: Devon Cavanagh, senior vice president of Product, and Taggart Matthiesen, former head of Product.
The quotations are our translation of Live Nation's filing.
Where the settlement stands
It remains a proposal. According to TicketNews, Judge Arun Subramanian is still reviewing it under the Tunney Act. What it contains is in our review of the settlement's twelve obligations. Until it is approved, none of them is final, and the map of alternatives to Ticketmaster for promoters remains today's.