By LARRY NEUMEISTER<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Live Nation Entertainment\u2019s longtime chief executive was the star witness at a New York antitrust trial Thursday, defending the dominant position his company has taken over the last two decades as a lawyer for nearly three dozen states tried to portray the concert giant as greedy and abusive to customers.<\/p>\n
Michael Rapino, who has led the company since it was formed 21 years ago, testified at the trial resulting from the lawsuit<\/a> the U.S. Justice Department brought two years ago against Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very proud,\u201d Rapino said, speaking of the way he believed his company had taken a fragmented industry over 20 years ago and organized it to better serve artists and fans in a manner that other companies now try to emulate. In 2010, Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n The federal government settled its role in the case last week, winning concessions from Live Nation that are meant to increase competition and ideally lower ticket prices for concertgoers. Six states have joined the federal government in settling. But 33 states and the District of Columbia are continuing the court fight.<\/p>\n Attorney Jeffrey Kessler, representing the states, questioned Rapino throughout the day as he tried to show the company was shutting out competitors and driving up prices for fans<\/a>.<\/p>\n At one point, Kessler brought up 2022 messages in which one of Live Nation\u2019s key ticketing employees wrote to another employee on the company\u2019s private messaging system that some customers were \u201cso stupid\u201d and boasted of \u201crobbing them blind, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n Rapino called the language \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201cnot the way we operate\u201d and said he just learned about it last week and planned \u201cto deal with it this week.\u201d<\/p>\n As Kessler pressed as to whether the employee would be disciplined, Rapino said his company tends \u201cto give employees a break\u201d and added that \u201cI heard he\u2019s apologized.\u201d<\/p>\n Live Nation has said that the company only learned of the employee\u2019s private messages last week when they were made public in the litigation. Its lawyers have described the conversation as \u201coff-the-cuff banter, not policy\u201d between two employees who are personal friends.<\/p>\n The chastened employee, Benjamin Baker, now head of ticketing for Venue Nation, which includes the company\u2019s amphitheaters, described the messages as \u201cvery immature and unacceptable\u201d when he testified<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n Throughout his testimony Thursday, Rapino remained composed and relaxed as he explained why he believed many of Kessler\u2019s assertions were misleading or wrong.<\/p>\n