OZZY OSBOURNE's AEG Lawsuit Dropped After Concert Promoter Ends Block-Booking Policy
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According to Billboard, Ozzy Osbourne has dropped his anti-trust lawsuit against AEG after company officials announced plans to end its policy requiring acts that wanted to play the O2 Arena in London to also play Staples Center in Los Angeles.
On Friday (September 21), Ozzy's attorney Daniel Wall filed a stipulation to dismiss the case, ending the lawsuit filed in March against AEG. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Osbourne can't refile the lawsuit.
AEG released the following statement in response regarding the end of the Osbourne lawsuit:
"On Friday, Ozzy Osbourne dismissed the class action lawsuit he filed against AEG. This dismissal with prejudice is a victory for AEG. We were fully prepared to see the case through to vindicate our policy, but now that Osbourne has decided to dismiss with prejudice, the case is over.
"Our policy was an appropriate, lawful and effective competitive response to Irving Azoff's pressure tactics seeking to force artists into the Forum. If those tactics resurface, we will redeploy our policy as needed.
"The Osbourne suit was instigated by Azoff and paid for by MSG and Live Nation. It was hatched on the back of an artist who we believe had no idea what he was biting off. The suit was a transparent public relations ploy that failed to pressure AEG into backing down from a booking policy that was an effective competitive response to the MSG-Forum tie.
"It is no surprise that once AEG refused to back down, Azoff, MSG and Live Nation became eager to drop the case as soon as possible. They dismissed the case with prejudice after realizing AEG would aggressively defend it, costing them tens of millions of dollars and posing a source of embarrassment once their questionable tactics were exposed in the course of discovery and trial."
Ozzy had tentatively agreed to perform at London's O2 Arena on February 11, 2019 as part of his "No More Tours 2" farewell run, but he claimed that AEG added a provision stating that if Osbourne played an indoor arena within 25 miles of Los Angeles that was promoted by competitor Live Nation during the tour, he would have to play the AEG-owned Staples Center as well.
Wall accused AEG of being a "monopolist" and trying to force Ozzy to play AEG's venue in Los Angeles in exchange for a London date at the arena.
In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit from Osbourne, AEG said that Osbourne could not claim anti-trust injury since the policy tied the promoter to the agreement, not the artist.
Wall submitted a rebuttal to the motion to dismiss, writing that AEG was misleading the court and was fully aware that the policy forced artists to play their venue in Los Angeles, sometimes against their will.
AEG previously told Billboard in a statement that the company "has always worked hard to put artists first. At the same time, we must respond to the actions of those we compete with, specifically Live Nation and Madison Square Garden. Fighting for a level playing field is fair competition at its core."
Osbourne wanted a judge to invalidate the provision in his contract that forces him to perform at Staples.
Variety reported that AEG's O2/Staples requirement came about in response to a challenge from MSG that found the company refusing to book acts into Madison Square Garden if they played at AEG's Staples Center in Los Angeles instead of the MSG-operated Forum. In response, AEG informed agents and promoters that acts who perform at The Forum instead of Staples will not be booked at London's O2 Arena.
Ozzy's final world tour is slated to last until 2020.
