Pop singer Taylor Swift’s influence stretches past pop culture and right into the politics with US senators taking inspiration from the musician to discuss Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster, as having an alleged monopoloy on ticket sales. Who says class-action lawsuits can’t be fun?

In fairness to the singer, the Senate judiciary committee hearing was at least in part kicked off by the fiasco over Ticketmaster’s handling of pre-sale tickets for Swift’s tour. 

Last year, fans began legal proceedings against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation after Ticketmaster’s site crashed during a presale event. The company said the site was overwhelmed by both fans and bot attacks and many people claimed to have lost tickets after waiting hours in an online queue.

The case sparked a congressional hearing examining the lack of competition in the ticketing industry - giving lawmakers the chance to show they were down with the kidz.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, told the hearing: ‘May I suggest... that Ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror and say “I’m the problem. It’s me”.’ The line is from Swift’s 2022 song Anti-hero. Senator Mike Lee, of Utah, took inspiration from Swift’s 2014 hit Blank Space to describe ticket reselling restrictions as ‘a nightmare dressed like a daydream’.

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