Entertainment
Thousands of tickets to Taylor Swift and other events illegally resold by broker, FTC alleges
A Maryland ticket broker is accused of illegally purchasing and reselling hundreds of thousands of tickets for profit, including thousands to Taylor Swift’s highly sought Eras Tour.
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Key Investment Group, saying the company made millions of dollars in profit from reselling the tickets at inflated prices.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, Aug. 18, in U.S. District Court in Maryland, accuses the company and its affiliates of bypassing Ticketmaster’s security measures designed to block resellers from violating ticket-purchase limits.
Key Investment Group also did business under the names Epic Seats, TotalTickets.com LLC and Totally Tix LLC, according to the complaint.
The FTC alleges that, in a one year period, the group purchased at least 379,776 tickets from Ticketmaster at a cost of nearly $57 million. The company then allegedly resold those tickets on secondary marketplaces for about $64 million.
In a statement, Key Investment Group said it will “vigorously defend itself against this clear example of regulatory overreach.” It claims the FTC “misleadingly characterizes KIG’s use of standard internet browsers,” and said the government’s case “threatens to dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events.”
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tickets
Between March and August of 2023, Key Investment Group allegedly purchased 10 or more tickets to 38 Taylor Swift concerts, totaling 2,280 tickets, according to the complaint. The FTC says the company made more than $1.2 million in profit reselling those tickets.
For just one Taylor Swift show, the defendants allegedly used 49 different accounts to buy 273 tickets. The Eras Tour had a six-ticket purchase limit per customer, per event.
Among other events the FTC alleges were targeted was a 2023 Bruce Springsteen concert in New Jersey. Despite a four-ticket limit, the defendants allegedly purchased and resold more than 1,500 tickets.
How the alleged scheme worked
According to the FTC, the group used thousands of Ticketmaster accounts, both fictitious and third-party accounts it had purchased, to bypass security measures and purchase the tickets.
The company is also accused of using thousands of credit card numbers, including virtual card numbers, spoofing IP addresses to hide the identity of the ticket purchaser, and using SIM technology to collect the incoming verification codes.
In doing so, the FTC said the brokers violated the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which prohibits people from “circumventing a security measure, access control system, or other technological control or measure on an internet website or online service that is used by the ticket issuer to enforce posted event ticket limits or to maintain the integrity of posted online ticket purchasing order rules.”
Sabrina Carpenter reportedly is eyeing a role in the next Mamma Mia movie.
According to Star Magazine, the 26-year-old pop sensation, secretly has been hoping to join the hit ABBA-inspired franchise.
“Sabrina’s been obsessed with ABBA since she was a little girl,” tipped a source.
They went on to address, “So it’s no exaggeration to say this would be a dream come true for her.”
For those unversed, The Espresso hitmaker has already brought her ABBA love to the stage, performing classics such as Dancing Queen during her set while opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour.
However, the insider noted that while Carpenter “really wants” the part, she’s managing her expectations.
“She’s trying not to get ahead of herself. She’s trusting that if it’s meant for her, it will happen.”
Whether or not she lands Mamma Mia, Hollywood seems ready to give Carpenter her big-screen moment.
“She’s definitely going to be on the big screen soon because Hollywood is very interested,” the source added.
“She’s already proven she can act, but she’s not resting on her laurels; she’s been studying with a great coach.”
Producer Judy Craymer even weighed in on the idea, telling Deadline in May that Carpenter “would be a goddess or some relation who would look very much like Meryl Streep” if she were to join the beloved franchise.
Matthew Rhys recently revealed he had to convince The Beast in Me team that he could pull off being creepy.
In a talk with Entertainment Weekly, the 50-year-old Welsh actor admitted when he read the script of Netflix’s show, The Beast in Me, he thought the role of Nile Jarvis, a real estate tycoon suspected of killing his wife, was out of his reach.
Sharing his thoughts, Rhys said, “I read it and I was like, ‘I won’t get this. People don’t come to me for this.’ I have these Celtic eyes. I do downtrodden well, I don’t do megalomaniac or sociopath.”
Moreover, the show’s creator, Howard Gordon, went on to offer his thoughts on The Edge of Love star’s audition, noting he could not get a chance to depict a role of sociopath or megalomaniac before.
“He brought something else to it. He’s so charming and funny and charismatic. But he is scary,” Gordon confessed.
“I had to persuade them that I can be creepy,” Rhys quipped and added with a joke that he ‘parked outside’ cast member Claire Danes’ residence to prove his point, saying, “That seemed to do it.”
For the unversed, in The Beast in Me, Danes plays Aggie Wiggs, an author who cannot write after her young son’s death. When Nile moves in next door and wants a running path, Wiggs argues with him, until she thinks he might be the “perfect subject” for her next book.
It is pertinent to mention that The Beast in Me is slated to be released on November 13, 2025.
Denise Richards was reportedly snubbed by ex-friend Heather Locklear as she tried to make peace amid explosive divorce drama with husband Aaron Phypers.
For the unversed, the 54-year-old American actress has been trying to make peace with her former friend Heather Locklear while her divorce fight with estranged husband Phypers got worse.
According to Radar Online, Locklear is still upset that Richards “hooked up” with her ex Richie Sambora years ago.
“Denise has been trying to get in touch, but she’s not getting anywhere, because Locklear has a long memory,” a source said.
Notably, after the end of the Wild Things star’s first marriage with Charlie Sheen, she had a “hot-and-heavy romance” with Locklear’s estranged husband, Sambora, a musician, songwriter and singer by profession. It began soon after the Dynasty star filed for divorce in 2206.
“Heather had separated from Richie, and she and Denise were hanging out and hitting up nightclubs to let off some steam, but then Denise backstabbed her by taking up with Richie. Heather felt betrayed,” the insider said.
Richards is now going through a bitter divorce from Phypers after accusing him of “years of abuse,” leaking her most private pictures, and stealing her laptop. He still demands her spousal support because of his unemployment.
However, Locklear “is not trying to get pleasure from Denise’s misery right now, but there is a part of her that says this is a classic case of karma biting Denise in the butt,” per the source.
“In Heather’s view, Denise is reaping what she sows in terms of how she’s treated people. Heather won’t be holding any pity parties for Denise anytime soon,” the source claimed.
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