Taylor Swift Eras tour LIVE updates — Fans in uproar over 'demand' issues and beg for fix ahead of Beyonce tickets sale
Getting verified on Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster down during Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket presale
Amanda Castro
Jennifer Korn
Matthew Aquino
Updated: 12:44 ET, Nov 18 2022
THE general sale for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour has been canceled amid Ticketmaster issues and fans are hoping for a fix before any other tours go on sale.
Ticketmaster made the announcement of Taylor's tour general sale cancelation at 3pm ET on Thursday, just hours before tickets were supposed to go on sale to the general public.
After finding this out, fans were furious and many are hoping that the Ticketmaster issues are fixed before any other tours go on sale, such as Beyoncé, who has confirmed that she will be going on tour in 2023.
However, following days of silence in the matter, Taylor took to Instagram and posted a Story in response to the Ticketmaster fiasco, writing in part: "It's really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.
"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."
Taylor's 52-date stadium tour is scheduled to take place across the US from March 17 through August 9 of 2023, with additional international dates expected to be added.
Read our Taylor Swift tickets queue live blog for news and updates...
Amanda Castro 18th Nov 2022, 12:44
Taylor Swift calls out Ticketmaster in Instagram statement
Taylor Swift apologizes to her fans who believe Ticketmaster mistreated them when they tried to purchase tickets for her tour, as she lashes out at the company for breaking its promise of a seamless launch.
The singer recently ended her silence regarding the concert ticket fiasco by posting a lengthy statement on her Instagram Story in which she expresses her royal rage at Ticketmaster, mirroring the sentiments of her adoring following.
She wrote in part: "It's really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.
'Taylor Swift fans finally killing Ticketmaster'
Fans took to Twitter to draw a comparison between the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco and the Pearl Jam situation from the 90s.
One user tweeted: Remember when nobody paid attention to what Pearl Jam was trying to say about Ticketmaster? And they were arguing against extra fees upwards of $3.50. 30 years later they've fully monopolized and now people all of a sudden want to go to battle. Only because of Taylor Swift…"
Another fan wrote: "Taylor Swift fans finally killing Ticketmaster and finishing the job Pearl Jam started nearly 30 years ago demonstrates the potential of intergenerational cooperation against those that abuse power."
Remember when nobody paid attention to what Pearl Jam was trying to say about Ticketmaster? And they were arguing against extra fees upwards of $3.50. 30 years later they've fully monopolized and now people all of a sudden want to go to battle. Only because of Taylor Swift…
— Live On 4 Legs Podcast (@liveon4legspod) November 15, 2022
Fans look back at Pearl Jam's antitrust campaign from the 90s
After Ticketmaster canceled the general sale of Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" due to high demand in the pre-sales, Pearl Jam became a trending topic on Thursday, according to Fox News.
Ticketmaster was the target of a complaint by Pearl Jam in 1994 alleging anticompetitive and monopolistic actions. In the end, the Justice Department decided against filing an antitrust lawsuit against the business.
Ticketmaster had already sold 55million tickets at that point for an estimated $1.6billion. The rock group argued that the ticket prices were too high for their teenage fans.
The Justice Department claimed in a two-sentence statement that it had informed Ticketmaster Holdings Group Inc., the parent organization, that "it is closing its antitrust investigation into that firm's contracting practices."
The case was concluded at that point because no lawsuit was filed. The antitrust division, however, cautioned business people that the government "will continue to monitor competitive developments in the ticketing industry."
Buyer's remorse from fans after spending hundreds on tickets
After spending time on an impossibly endless Ticketmaster queue during one of the presales for the Eras Tour in 2023, fans have been expressing their feelings on social media over the matter; even those who got their hands on tickets.
Those who managed to buy tickets have a bit of buyer's remorse, with one user tweeting: "There's no guilt like the guilt of having Taylor Swift tickets."
Tickets were going for over $300 per person on Ticketmaster on the days of the presales this week.
There's no guilt like the guilt of having Taylor Swift tickets.
— Leia (@LeiaGlitter) November 18, 2022
Eras Tour tickets going for over 20K in resales
Following Ticketmaster's cancellation of the public sale, Taylor Swift fans who were fortunate enough to secure presale tickets could now cash in for tens of thousands of dollars.
Taylor's SoFi Stadium event in Los Angeles will cost fans a minimum of $400, and that is for a seat behind the stage. The most expensive seat is presently priced at over $4,000.
At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, you may pay either $765 for a seat in the nosebleeds or nearly $11,500 for a floor seat.
The first-row seats at Gillette Stadium Boston will cost $22,500, while the ones on the lower side go for $675. Additionally, Soldier Field in Chicago offers floor seats for about $5,000 and nosebleed seats for $800.
Beyoncé officially going on tour in 2023
Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles-Lawson held her sixth annual Wearable Art Gala throughout the weekend of October 22.
Naturally, Beyoncé attended, and the Beyhive quickly learned that one of the auction items was two tickets and first-class travel to see Beyoncé on her Renaissance Tour, which will begin in the summer of 2023. The winning bid was $50,000.
Since Beyoncé's last solo tour was six years ago, there is a greater than ever interest in seeing her perform live.
Beyoncé has released several albums since wrapping up the Formation World Tour, including Renaissance, Everything Is Love with JAY-Z, Lion King: The Gift, and her Homecoming live album.
She has also hinted that this current era will have two more acts.
Live Nation CEO comments on Taylor Swift pre-sale disarray
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino spoke this morning at the Liberty Media investor and explained Ticketmaster, saw more than 3.5million people try to register as verified fans to buy tickets to the pop star's upcoming U.S. tour.
Those that received codes to buy tickets then overwhelmed the site on Tuesday, Rapino said, causing a few hours of "slowdowns," as the company worked to stabilize the system.
"We invited a million and a half on that day to come and buy those tickets, but it's kind of like having a party. Everybody crashed that door at the same time with 3.5 billion requests," Rapino said.
Fans list Taylor Swift The Eras Tour tickets on ebay
Lucky individuals who have been able to access and purchase Taylor Swift tickets have now listed them on eBay for eager buyers to bid on.
Starting prices range from as low as $152.50 to as high as $6,000.
Today show host makes dig at Taylor Swift Ticketmaster debacle
Jacob Soboroff threw some subtle shade at Taylor Swift.
Jacob was presenting a segment on the Today show about singers who had picked up nominations at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
He said: "Taylor Swift celebrated her four nominations," before reading out Taylor's post on Instagram when she learned she'd been nominated.
Taylor said: "All too well 10 is the song I'm the most proud of… I think I'll go scream for 10 minutes straight."
Jacob then said in a sly dig: "Which is what people did yesterday when they couldn't get her tickets."
He was referring to the millions of fans struggling to buy presale tickets to Taylor's 2023 Eras tour – her first tour in five years – after Ticketmaster crashed.
Highest grossing tour
Taylor Swift has had successful grossing tours throughout her career.
Her Red Tour grossed $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing tour by a country artist in history.
The 1989 Tour became Swift's highest grossing at $250million and most attended tour at the time.
Swift's Reputation tour in 2018, grossed a record of $266.1 million, but The Eras Tour has the potential to surpass this feat.
Tennessee Attorney General questions Ticketmaster
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti says antitrust violations "could be an issue" for Ticketmaster.
He's also concerned Ticketmaster lacks competition leaving customers with sky-high prices and a frustrating experience getting access to tickets.
Jonathan's office received a plethora of complaints from potential buyers who experienced a severe lack of customer support, while others said Ticketmaster told them to wait five days for a response.
The View host turned down free concert tickets
The View host Sunny Hostin admitted she isn't the biggest fan of Taylor Swift, and told the panel that she and her daughter turned down free tickets to see her in concert.
Sunny began: "She offered our team free tickets to her concert, and so she's a lovely person."
"So I asked my daughter Peloma, do you want tickets for a friend, to go to this Taylor Swift concert, and she said no."
Then, an audience member dramatically gasped in shock at the idea of someone turning down free Taylor concert tickets.
The panel had a laugh at the fan's intense reaction to Sunny's distaste of Taylor's music.
Taylor and Katy are now friends
In May 2018, the feud ended when Katy sent Taylor a literal olive branch and an apology letter.
Taylor posted a video of the package to her Instagram Stories, along with the words "Thank you, Katy."
In June 2019, the two women were seen together again for the first time in Taylor's video You Need To Calm Down.
In the video, the two stars are dressed up as french fries and a cheeseburger and are seen hugging and looking at each other adoringly.
The root of the Taylor and Katy drama
It wasn't until Katy was on Carpool Karaoke with James Corden that she revealed the root issue of the drama.
She told Corden that the fallout was over backup dancers, who Taylor believed Katy "stole" from her crew of dancers to join her own world tour to sabotage Taylor's Red Tour.
Katy insisted this was not true.
She said Taylor had refused to speak to her about it when she contacted her to discuss the issue.
Taylor's feud with Katy Perry
Taylor and Katy had a friendly relationship until 2014 when Taylor revealed her song Bad Blood was about another woman in the music industry who she was now "straight-up enemies" with.
The song depicts Taylor's girl squad, including big names such as Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, Hailee Steinfeld, Serayah, Gigi Hadid, Ellie Goulding, and others, each as a superhero that's fighting evil.
When the single dropped in 2015, Katy was immediately linked to the song's antagonist, with the pair making numerous cryptic digs at each other over the following years.
Kim defended Kanye and slammed Taylor
In a continuation of the drama between Kanye and Taylor, Kanye's ex Kim Kardashian claimed to GQ that Taylor had given Kanye her full blessing over the Famous lyrics.
She said: "She totally approved that; she wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn't."
"I swear, my husband gets so much s**t for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved."
Taylor clapped back at Kanye
Taylor claimed that she had consented to the first part of the line but not the part where Kanye used the word b***h.
Kanye's wife-at-the-time, Kim Kardashian, would continue to dig into the feud, which later sparked song lyrics from Taylor in which she doesn't name Kanye or Kim specifically but hints about their drama.
Songs on both Reputation and also Lover seemingly reference their feud.
Kanye's 2016 dig at Taylor
In February 2016, Kanye released his new track, Famous.
The song includes a line: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b***h famous."
Kanye claimed that he had sought Taylor's approval first and even had his now ex-wife Kim Kardashian release a video in which the rapper called the singer to tell her about the track.
Taylor Swift and Kanye West feud
Kanye West and Taylor Swift have had drama since the 2009 MTV VMA awards.
That night, Taylor, 19 years old, accepted the Best Female Video award for You Belong with Me.
As she began making her speech, Kanye infamously stormed the stage, grabbing the microphone out of a stunned Taylor's hand.
He said: "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had the best one of the best videos of all time… one of the best videos of all time!"
He was booed off the stage and handed the mic back to Taylor, but it was too late; MTV had already cut to a commercial before she could finish her speech.
Taylor's net worth revealed
Taylor's net worth was reportedly a staggering $400million in August 2021, although it has remained unchanged since last year.
The Grammy Award winner made her fortune from her bestselling albums and worldwide tours.
Taylor has been working since she was 16, and she released her first album, Taylor Swift in 2006, followed by Fearless in 2008.
The 31-year-old singer also has multiple sponsorship deals with brands including Elizabeth Arden, Target, Diet Coke, Keds, and Apple.
Taylor did not go to college
Taylor did not go to New York University.
In fact she did not even attend university and admitted during her acceptance speech that she left high school at tenth grade.
She explained: "I went to public high school until tenth grade and then finished my education doing home school work on the floor of airport terminals."
She added how she "never got to have a normal college experience per se" but encouraged her fellow graduates to work hard.
She also said, "effortlessness is a myth."
Fans obsessed with Taylor's motivational speech
Fans on Twitter shared snippets of the speech including: "You will screw it up sometimes. So will I."
"And when I do, you will most likely read about it on the internet."
Another tweeted her words: ""Never be ashamed of trying."
More of Taylor's speech at NYU
Taylor told grads: "Learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively."
She added: ""I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be, and when. Who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go.
"I have some good news: it's totally up to you.
"I also have some terrifying news: it's totally up to you."
Taylor received an honorary doctorate
The Shake It Off singer received an honorary doctorate of fine arts on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
Adoring fans and supporters of the icon screamed as the now Dr Swift blew kisses as she collected her degree in the Yankee Stadium in New York.
Donning her purple robe, Swift told the crowd: "I'm 90% sure the main reason I'm here is because I have a song called 22."
She added: "Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth."
Vigilante S*** lyrics
The Blank Space hitmaker sang in her verses: "She needed a cold hard proof. So I give her some. She had the envelope. Where'd you think she got it from?
"Now she gets the house. Gets the kids, gets the pride. Picture me, thick as thieves with your ex-wife.
The lyrics ended with: "And she looks so pretty / Driving in your Benz."
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