Al Dorso, president of State Fair Entertainment Management, who contracted with Juice Entertainment to provide entertainment, was told by Live Nation representatives that they were "blocking" DJ Tiesto, shown in this file photo, from performing at the State Fair Meadowlands, the lawsuit says. SADDLE BROOK — A pair of local concert promoters has filed a lawsuit against industry giant Live Nation, claiming it used threats and coercion to prevent them from booking acts for last summer's State Fair Meadowlands.
Thomas Dorfman and Chris Barrett, principals of Juice Entertainment in Saddle Brook, claim they lost their contract with the fair management because of interference by Live Nation. The lawsuit says Juice lost more than $75,000 as a result.
Filed in federal court last week, the lawsuit claims Live Nation, the world’s largest promoter of concerts and concert ticket services, coerced performers into not signing with Juice to appear at the fair and threatened to withhold its ticketing services to the venue — the state-owned Meadowlands sports complex — if it were not allowed to be a partner.
Messages left at Juice Entertainment and with its attorney, David Stone, were not returned.
The lawsuit alleges the kind of strong-arm tactics industry insiders feared when Live Nation and Ticketmaster decided to merge in 2009. Opponents of the merger, which was approved by the Obama administration, said the resulting company would have too much leverage in the industry.
The lawsuit alleges a coordinated campaign to block Juice Entertainment’s ability to book acts for the fair, held in the Meadowlands parking lot June 24 to July 10.
It states that Al Dorso, president of State Fair Entertainment Management, who contracted with Juice to provide entertainment, was told by Live Nation representatives that they were "blocking" DJ Tiesto from performing at the event.
The artist was informed he would not be permitted to play at other Live Nation venues if he signed a contract with Juice, according to the lawsuit.
Dorso said Juice Entertainment seemed to be progressing until Live Nation showed an interest. At that point, he said he encouraged Barrett and Dorfman to talk to Live Nation about working together.
"They were the 800-pound gorilla. I said, ‘Go see if you can work out a deal,’ " Dorso said, adding he was surprised to learn of Live Nation’s interest because he had approached the company the year before. "They basically yawned. They didn’t have an interest in it."
According to the lawsuit, Barrett and Dorfman "did not consent to the shotgun marriage ‘proposal’ from Live Nation," and as a result Juice was not able to sign artists. Dorso then terminated his agreement with them.
Barrett and Dorfman say the agents and artists working with William Morris were similarly manipulated. Although officials from William Morris signed on in early January to help Juice book the event, the lawsuit claims "representatives of Live Nation stated to Mr. Dorso, and ultimately directly to Mr. Dorfman and Mr. Barrett, that the William Morris talent agency belonged ‘exclusively’ to Live Nation and that no artists represented by William Morris would be permitted to sign contracts with Juice Entertainment."
The lawsuit also claims Live Nation threatened the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority with pulling its ticketing services for the complex if the authority didn’t help it get a part of the concert contracts.
Representatives from Live Nation and the sports authority would not comment on pending litigation
Editor's note: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly referred to the State Fair Meadowlands as the New Jersey State Fair. We regret the error.