Kid Rock has put out the call to Pearl Jam and “outlaw country singers” to get involved in the current FTC and Department of Justice lawsuit against Ticketmaster over ticketing prices, though he fears a political divide may keep them from joining the fight.
Rock posted a three-minute video to his X account in which he rails against the ticketing companies and speaks about the executive order signed by Donald Trump in his presence at the Oval Office to launch an investigation into price gauging and concert ticketing practices.
Within the rant, he speaks about obtaining a “world orb” that verifies his humanity and supposedly would cut the bots out of ticketing sales. He then later goes on to put the call out to other artists to join the fight, though admitting that he doesn’t expect many to do so.
Why Did Kid Rock Call Out Pearl Jam + What He Thinks Will Happen?
The shout out to Pearl Jam does have some reasoning behind it. The band famously went to war with Ticketmaster in the ’90s. They filed a complaint with the Justice Department claiming that the ticketing giant used their place in the industry to stop promoters from booking them because they spoke out against Ticketmaster’s pricing.
They also alleged that Ticketmaster had a monopoly over ticket distribution citing the fact that the company also held relationships with various concert venues.
The group then proceeded to boycott any venues with Ticketmaster associations and booked a tour with independent venues so they could control the pricing themselves.
But while Rock shouted out Pearl Jam, he soon followed by attacking the band’s politics and feeling that might get in the way of their joining the fight.
“Let’s see if Pearl Jam steps up,” he shared in the video. “They wanted to fix ticketing years ago. They probably won’t, because they’ll be like, ‘Oh, we hate Donald Trump. We have Trump derangement syndrome.’”
READ MORE: Kid Rock Joins President Trump to Target Ticket Reselling Scams
He had a similar dismissive stance when it came to the “outlaw country singers” he suggested should join the fight. “We’ll see if any other artists get onboard, by the way, with this lawsuit and their management, if they want to talk and tell them about the bullshit that’s going on for decades. A lot of them will puss out, straight up pussies, all these outlaw country singers. There’ll be a bunch of fucking pussies when they should speak up for their fans,” he commented.
What Exactly Did Kid Rock Say in His Ticketing Update?
The three minute video posted by Kid Rock found the musician digging into the ongoing investigation and lawsuit, but a good portion of it was also the singer delivering an expletive-filled rant over the ticketing practices of ticketing companies.
Rock also shared a “world orb” that he had obtained that supposedly would help rid bots from ticketing sales. His full commentary from the chat can be viewed below.
So there was some of the people in the business talking about ticketing, that when Trump — President Trump — did that executive order with me in the Oval Office, that these, know-it-alls out in California we’re like, ‘Oh, they’re just showboating. It really did nothing.’
What he did was he ordered the FTC and the Department of Justice to go investigate and see what the hell is going on with ticketing. Well, guess what? They investigated and what happened? They filed a fucking lawsuit against Ticketmaster, because clearly they found out that those motherfuckers are crooks and they’ve been crooks for decades. Fucking over the public. Fucking over artists.
Now somehow, [as I] flip this phone around. Somehow, I got one of these world orbs, and that proves you’re a human. Comes with an app — World app — you download it, proof of human, proof of humanity. This thing would cut the bots out, cut the scalpers out immediately. Somehow, I got one in my fucking house. But the ticketing companies can’t figure this out. You know why? Because every time … if you buy a ticket and go to a concert, you are their worst customer.
They want that ticket to resell on their own platform so they can fuck everybody twice. They get the service charges. They get another whatever 17 percent or something on top all the other horse shit they’re dicking you around with.
So like I said from the beginning, I don’t know if breaking Ticketmaster up solves the problem. I’m not sure if this orb solves it, but it’s a step in the right direction.
I know this, none of the ticketing companies, are using it. Somehow I got one in my fucking house, but they can’t figure it out. They’re full of shit. They could have stopped the bots years ago. They could have fixed this fucking problem and they haven’t because they’re greedy fucks.
So I hope they’ll all go down personally, right to the fucking bottom. Fuck them. And I hope we can figure out ticketing so us as artists, when we set a price we can get the tickets into the hands of the fans at the prices we set. And I know that’s not really …. I’m a capitalist to the bone and there’s some questions there. But these bad actors and all the ticketing companies — not even scalpers, brokers, whatever you want to call them — they’ve hid behind the disguise of capitalism for years. Fuck them.
This is one that we need some regulations on, either a price cap — I’d say 10 percent, you can’t resell a ticket for 10 percent or 10-15 percent like they do in some European countries — or use this proof of human thing, whatever it takes.
I shouldn’t be the one to figure it out. These motherfuckers should, but they haven’t. They’ve raped us for fucking years. Fuck them. I hope they all go down.
But really what I hope for is we can fix ticketing for the fans. And by the way, they’ve been fucking the artist too, but I’m kind of second in that equation. I want the fans to be able to go to a show at the prices I set for my tickets and most artists do.
We’ll see if any other artists get onboard, by the way, with this lawsuit and their management, if they want to talk and tell them about the bullshit that’s going on for decades. A lot of them will puss out, straight up pussies, all these outlaw country singers. There’ll be a bunch of fucking pussies when they should speak up for their fans.
Let’s see if Pearl Jam steps up. They wanted to fix ticketing years ago. They probably won’t, because they’ll be like, ‘Oh, we hate Donald Trump. We have Trump derangement syndrome.’ All these other presidents could have fucking done something. Bush, Obama, Clinton, they didn’t do shit. Nobody has. Trump did. Trump is, we are. So, calling your bluffs right now. Let’s see what happens. Rock on.
What Is the World Orb?
According to their website, the World Orb is an identification tool that provides an anonymous proof of humanity within the age of artificial intelligence. The spherical device provides you with a WorldID where you can use it to sign into online apps and services and have your data encrypted.
The ID is obtained through capturing and processing photos to verify uniqueness but without retaining your images or collecting additional data. This means you would be able to prove things about yourself without sharing your identifiable information with third parties.
Artists Who Tried Their Best to Combat Scummy Concert Ticket Practices
Gallery Credit: Jacklyn Krol
