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.”
Actor Shia LaBeouf has been ordered to go to rehab after getting arrested on February 17 during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
He was involved in a fight with two men and reportedly used homophobic slurs, according to Page Six.
He now faces three misdemeanor battery charges.
At a recent court hearing, Judge Simone Levine said she was not sure LaBeouf is serious about his alcohol problems.
She, however, denied his request to travel to Rome and set a $100,000 bond. He must also take drug tests and enter rehab.
Sources say the punishment could let him do rehab online, as they described LaBeouf as someone who can act like he is serious about recovery, even though he does not believe he has an addiction.
In a recent interview, he said his behaviour was because of a “small man complex” and not alcohol.
He added, “It’s not nice to hurt people ever. People got hurt. I got to deal with that.”
LaBeouf separated from his wife Mia Goth last year, and sources say she wants him to get help.
Friends warn that his drinking could lead to serious problems, as his Hollywood future is uncertain and he returns to court on March 19.
When We Were Young Festival is hitting pause this year.
Organizers of the Las Vegas-based emo and pop-punk fest announced via Instagram on February 27 that the event will take 2026 off — but emphasised the break is only temporary.
“To our When We Were Young Family,” the statement began. “The songs, the memories, the moments – none of it exists without you. After an unforgettable run in Las Vegas, we’ve decided to take 2026 off to give this festival the care it deserves and to make sure what comes next feels just as special as what came before.”
While no specific reason was given for the hiatus, fans were reassured the festival isn’t going anywhere. “When We Were Young Festival will return to Las Vegas in October 2027… This isn’t goodbye – it’s just a pause. We’ll see you in 2027.”
Since launching in 2022, the Live Nation-produced event has become a nostalgic pilgrimage for millennial music lovers, taking over the Las Vegas Festival Grounds each October. Past headliners have included Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance and the Killers.
The 2025 edition featured Blink-182 and a reunited Panic! at the Disco, marking a rare return following the band’s 2023 split. In 2024, My Chemical Romance delivered a full performance of The Black Parade, alongside a stacked lineup of scene favourites.
Deon Cole hosted the NAACP Image Award at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday, February 28, and opened his monologue with a joke about the racial slur mishap at the BAFTAs recently.
The 54-year-old comedian and actor jokingly prayed to God, saying, “Lord, before we go, if there are any white men out here in the audience with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them they better read the room tonight, Lord. It might not go the way they thinketh. Whatever medicine they’re on, they better double up on it, Lord.
Cole referred to the controversy about Tourette’s activist John Davidson shouting a racial slur while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presented an award on stage.
The Average Joe star also joked about Nicki Minaj and her recent political alliance with the MAGA movement, saying, “Lord, we want you to bless our sister Nicki Minaj. She’s been going through a lot lately and hasn’t been herself, Lord,” joking that her cosmetic injections have been “affecting her brain.”
NAACP Awards stand for National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and celebrate the arts across different mediums including films, theatre, music, and literature, created every year.
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