Kid Rock Under Fire For Accusing Ticketmaster Of ‘Raping Hardworking Americans’

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What to Know

01 Kid Rock has been speaking out against Live Nation and Ticketmaster after some leaked employee messages went viral.
02 In the leaked messages, employees referred to music fans as "so stupid" and bragged about ripping them off.
03 Kid Rock suggested that working class people should be able to afford concerts — but critics think he's a hypocrite.

Kid Rock is speaking up about corporate greed, but a lot of critics think he’s being hypocritical (and in some ways, offensive). For one, the 55-year-old musician accused entertainment giant Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster of “raping hardworking Americans,” which really bothered people.

And although there’s nothing offensive about the idea that working class people should be able to afford concert tickets, people aren’t convinced Kid Rock is actually practicing what he preaches. While on Fox & Friends, he described himself as “a capitalist through and through” who thinks people should “make as much money as you can,” but at the same time, he doesn’t think companies should be “screwing” his fans over and “raping them for $1200 a ticket.”

Meanwhile, as some of his critics pointed out on social media, Kid Rock recently made headlines for charging $5,000 for the “extremely limited First Class seats” on his Freedom 250 Tour.

He was reacting to leaked messages in which Live Nation employees mocked music fans.

In a series of Slack messages that were released on Wednesday, March 11, an employee said fans were “so stupid” and then said, “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them,” per the New York Times. Then, in another message, the employee said, “Robbing them blind baby. That’s how we do.”

According to the publication, the employees shared a pricing chart for a 2022 Kid Rock concert. It was labeled “VIP Club Admission” and the highest price for this add-on was $199. “VIP parking” cost even more, as the employee laughed about pricing it at $250.

Kid Rock was angry about this.

As he explained on Fox & Friends, he saw the leaked messages as evidence that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are “screwing [his] fans.” He complained about how polarized things are in the U.S., which some critics found a bit ironic given that he was the headliner at Turning Point USA’s divisive “alternative” halftime show this year (and is also a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump).

“It’s all this left-wing, right-wing crap. It’s like, can we just get back to being Americans first and try to get something done that helps working-class people in this country?” Kid Rock said on Fox & Friends. Oh? So he’s suddenly wanting to unify people?

He said his fans are ‘the best this country has to offer.’

While complaining about corporate greed, Kid Rock also said, “You come after my fans, who are arguably—outside of our military—the best this country has to offer. Hardworking people who just want to have fun… I mean, this is a joke and people are p—ed off about it.”

And honestly, fair enough. Most people would agree that concert tickets are way too expensive these days. It’s just that, to some critics, the message didn’t sound terribly convincing coming from Kid Rock. As one critic on Facebook pointed out, “His First Class tickets are $5000 (face value, not resale) a piece on Ticketmaster right now. It’s not Ticketmaster alone calling the shots on outrageous ticket prices.”

Besides, as other critics mentioned, his “buddy” Trump is not exactly known for taking a stand against corporate greed. “You supported Trump. Trump picked his DOJ. Trumps DOJ settled and gave them a slap on the wrist. This is what you voted for. See how that works?” one critic on X wrote.

Kid Rock also posted about the issue on social media.

In an X post, he wrote (in all caps), “Does anyone care about this but me? These motherf—ers have been raping hard working Americans for decades…and laughing about it while they do it. This is what the f— I have been screaming about for years. It’s even worse in sports. Much of corporate America needs to have their pants pulled down and have their a–es whooped. Publicly. I don’t type this as a MAGA guy or a conservative. I speak my truth as an American who loves this country. God is my witness.”

In response, a lot of people made jokes about his friendly relationship with Trump. “Wait until you find out who let them off the hook,” one person wrote. Someone else shared a screenshot of one of his “First Class” seats priced at $5,000 and wrote, “This you?”

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Paige Sheffield (she/her)