- - Olivia Dean Reveals the Emotional Message from a Single Mom That Compelled Her to Call Out Ticketmaster’s ‘Disgusting’ Prices

Jeff NelsonDecember 16, 2025 at 10:20 PM

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Dave Doobinin

Olivia Dean performing at a Dec. 15 Soho Sessions and Grammy Museum event in N.Y.C. -

Olivia Dean criticized Ticketmaster for its resale policy in November, prompting the company to refund ticket buyers for inflated charges for her tour

The pop star opened up about the incident at a Dec. 15 show put on by the Soho Sessions and the Grammy Museum

“It was unfair the way that the operation was running, and I just thought, ‘Let me have a go and see what I can do,'" Dean said at the event

Olivia Dean is the woman that music fans need.

In November, the “Man I Need” singer criticized the concert ticketing giant Ticketmaster over its resale policy. Now, she’s opening up about a fan’s message that helped initiate her heated takedown.

“When the tickets went on sale, I was looking at, you know, some stuff I was tagged in, and I saw a video of a single mother, and she was like, ‘I connected so much to this album. I can't afford a ticket. I can afford the gas money and the babysitter, but can you just give me a ticket?’ And I was like, you are exactly the person that should be coming to the show,” Dean, 26, said at a Soho Sessions and Grammy Museum event in New York City on Dec. 15.

Dean added, “It was unfair the way that the operation was running, and I just thought, ‘Let me have a go and see what I can do.’ And we did something, and Ticketmaster are gonna refund everybody their money that they paid, which is like $2 million or something.”

Dave Doobinin

Gayle King and Olivia Dean in conversation at a Dec. 15 Soho Sessions and Grammy Museum show in N.Y.C.

Indeed, on Nov. 21, the British pop star posted on her Instagram Stories, “[Ticketmaster], [Live Nation], [AEG]: You are providing a disgusting service. The prices at which you’re allowing tickets to be re-sold is vile and completely against our wishes. Live music should be affordable and accessible, and we need to find a new way of making that possible. BE BETTER.”

The Live Nation conglomerate took action following Dean’s post, responding in a statement: “To support Olivia Dean’s commitment to fair ticket pricing, Ticketmaster is capping all future ticket resale prices for ‘The Art of Loving Live’ tour on its platform and refunding fans for any markup they already paid to resellers on Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster has activated a Face Value Exchange for the tour, effectively immediately but without transfer restrictions, to ensure that any future ticket sales on its site are capped at the original price paid—with no added fees. Ticketmaster was the first ticketing service to offer a Face Value Exchange in 2019 and continues to offer artists the right to cap resale prices prior to going on sale."

Dave Doobinin

Gayle King at Olivia Dean's Dec. 15 Soho Sessions and Grammy Museum private show in N.Y.C.

At the Soho Sessions and Grammy Museum event, Dean said, “I think that live music should be affordable. I think it should be something that you can only enjoy if you have a lot of money. And this album specifically was just such an attempt to connect with people and talk about love and loving each other … I think concert tickets are overpriced. I think that people should be able to come to the show, and it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Do you know what I mean?”

She added that she shared her social media message before boarding a flight.

“I was just vexed, and I was sitting in my airplane seat,” Dean said. “And then the plane landed, and it was in the papers.”

The “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” singer is nominated for the best new artist award at the 2026 Grammys, an honor she didn’t anticipate but is grateful for.

“It's definitely something in the back of your mind you think about,” she said at the private show. “I'm not somebody that's super fueled by awards in that sense, but I think it's actually, when I got nominated, I was like, ‘Oh no, this is really, really beautiful and such a way to be recognized.’ I never thought it would happen for me.”

The Soho Sessions are produced by Greg Williamson and Nicole Rechter and have become an exclusive experience in N.Y.C. nightlife over the past three years, with shows by Paul Simon, Maren Morris, Keith Richards and more. So far, Williamson and Rechter — who also co-founded the Love Rocks NYC benefit concert — have raised more than $75 million for charities; the Dec. 15 show benefitted the Grammy Museum, the educational branch of the Recording Academy.

The 2026 Grammys will air Feb. 1 on CBS. Dean’s The Art of Loving Tour kicks off April 22, 2026 in Glasgow.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”