Lauren Feiner

You might remember that J.D.

Vance used to go around calling for the breakup of Google and saying that he was a fan of Biden FTC chief Lena Kahn.

But nothing about the second Trump administration is predictable or stable.

In early February, following the reports of some major tensions at the DOJ, Gail Slater was pushed out.

And then just one week into the Live Nation trial, the DOJ settled its portion of the case, shocking many in the industry and extracting only what many see as pretty weak concessions.

Trump himself reportedly intervened in the case directly to demand that speedy settlement, which of course stirred up accusations of outright corruption.

But the lawsuit isn't over yet.

Because the case against Live Nation included dozens of states, a bunch of attorneys general have refused to give up the fight.

So Live Nation remains in court, fighting off accusations that it operates an illegal monopoly in the ticket business, which is illegally tied to its promotions business, which is illegally tied to its venue business.

But the DOJ settlement raises all sorts of complicated questions about where antitrust policy stands in the United States overall, especially with regard to ongoing cases against big tech companies like Apple and Amazon.

Lauren has been tracking all these cases and all these developments in detail, the trial, the settlement, and now the state's continuing the fight.

So let's get into it.

Before we start, a quick reminder that you can listen to this episode or any episode of Decoder completely ad-free by subscribing to The Verge.

Just go to theverge.com slash subscribe.

Okay, Verge senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner on the Live Nation antitrust lawsuit.

Here we go.

Lauren Feiner, your senior policy reporter for The Verge and a resident in courtroom experiencer.

Because I think what's happening in courtrooms for you right now is just a full existential experience at all times.

Welcome to Decoder.

All over the country, there are other cases.