Good afternoon. Three weeks into the Live Nation trial and I’ve started to forget what day it is. Thankfully, everyone’s favorite bro-in-law Omar Al-Joulani took the stand Thursday to insist the arena and stadium touring business is really much more competitive than many people realize. Scroll down the page to see the AI courtroom sketch we made of him in honor oh his big day. We reached out to his favorite band Swedish House Mafia to see if they’d drop a remix track of his testimony, but they told us DJ Mustard would be a better fit since Omar referenced the K-Dot + Drizzy battle on the stand. He must not have gotten the memo — talking about the beef makes Jay-Z sad. 😿

Attorneys for Live Nation have come up with a fairly succinct retort to monopoly claims by state attorneys general — Ticketmaster dominates the arena and stadium space because its competitors simply aren’t very good.

SeatGeek’s problems have already been documented in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center — in 2021, arena officials caught scalpers selling speculative tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert before they even went on sale, and building executives had compiled a ten-page list of bugs, outages, and broken functionality that often hurt ticket sales.

AEG Presents is adding one of entertainment’s most prestigious events to its portfolio, striking a long-term agreement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to host the Oscars at L.A. LIVE beginning in 2029.

Under the deal, Hollywood’s biggest night will move to downtown Los Angeles for at least a decade, with ceremonies held at the venue currently known as Peacock Theater through 2039. The Oscars will remain at the Dolby Theatre and continue airing on ABC through 2028, giving AEG time to undertake a major renovation of the Peacock, including upgrades to staging, lighting, sound, backstage facilities and premium hospitality areas.

AEG, which owns and operates the L.A. LIVE campus next to Crypto.com Arena, will also work closely with the Academy on custom production elements to enhance both the in-person experience and the show’s global broadcast.

That global reach is set to grow. Beginning in 2029, the Oscars will stream on YouTube under a new worldwide rights deal, with L.A. LIVE serving as the central hub for red carpet arrivals and fan activations.

Executives from both organizations framed the partnership as an opportunity to reimagine the Oscars for a new era.

This week we break down Afroman’s historic win against and look at the Supreme courts historic ruling in favor of Cox, overturning a $1B judgement to Sony Music. We also deep dive on the Chance the Rapper and Pat Corcoran divorce and deep dive into the first federal arrest for AI streaming fraud!