Taylor Swift condemns "excruciating" Ticketmaster experience for fans
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Taylor Swift made her first public comments Friday on the controversy over her Eras Tour presale, saying it was "excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse."
Why it matters: The presale for Taylor Swift's upcoming Eras Tour was marred by technical glitches from Ticketmaster and led to a canceled general public sale, prompting an outcry among fans.
What she said: Swift wrote in an Instagram story Friday that she is protective of her supporters and that it is "really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties."
- "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.
- "I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could," she said, referencing Ticketmaster and what the company called "unprecedented demand" for the presale.
- "It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them," she added.
The big picture: Swift broke Ticketmaster's all-time record for most tickets ever sold for an artist in a single day through the presale, according to the company. But the high demand ended up breaking the ticketing service's website and led to a delayed Capital One presale and canceled general public sale in the days after.
What's next: Swift wrote that she hopes there are "more opportunities" for fans who didn't get tickets to experience the shows in the future.
- The Tennessee and North Carolina attorneys general are investigating Ticketmaster over possible antitrust violations.
- Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to say that the North Carolina attorney general is now also investigating Ticketmaster.
