Bad Bunny Asked to Perform Free Concert in Mexico After Ticketmaster Bungles Sales

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has requested well-liked reggaeton singer Bad Bunny, whose authorized identify is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, to carry out a free live performance in Mexico City after tons of of followers reportedly bought faux tickets on Ticketmaster.

Fans have been advised their tickets weren’t official after they tried to attend his live performance final week and have been denied entry on the live performance gates of the Aztec Stadium.

Following his efficiency, Bad Bunny tweeted, “WOW!!! WHAT A NIGHT!!! THANK YOU MEXICO!!! THANK YOU AMERICA FOR THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!! I TAKE THIS TOUR IN MY HEART FOREVER!! LONG LIVE LATIN AMERICA!!! LONG LIVE MUSIC IN SPANISH!!!”

Obrador pleaded with the Puerto Rican rapper to carry out one other present in a press assertion, including that whereas he couldn’t provide any cash, he might pay for the efficiency area and lighting at Zócalo, Mexico City’s central plaza.

“It made us emotional to see sad young people who could not enter because their tickets were duplicated, because they were defrauded, some crying, because they saved for a long time to buy their tickets,” Obrador mentioned in Spanish throughout a information convention Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Ticketmaster mentioned in a press release through Twitter on Monday that its system was overwhelmed when a surge of faux tickets have been uploaded to the location, and the Aztec Stadium’s safety guards reportedly couldn’t discern actual tickets from faux ones, inflicting some folks holding official tickets to be turned away, in response to the WSJ.

An investigation by Mexico’s Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office is working to find out what occurred and Ticketmaster has mentioned it’s collaborating with the legal professional’s workplace, including that the faux tickets have been “purchased outside our official channels.”

Ticketmaster didn’t instantly reply to Gizmodo’s request for remark.

Bad Bunny was streamed greater than 18.5 billion occasions on Spotify this 12 months, making him the most-streamed artist for the third 12 months in a row.

The firm mentioned the gross sales for Bad Bunny’s live performance have been the best in demand in Mexico’s historical past and “more than 4.5 million people” registered for one of many 120,000 seats that have been obtainable.

Ticketmaster wrote, “This situation, apart from confusing people working the entrances, temporarily overwhelmed the ticket reading system which unfortunately stopped the system from also recognizing legitimate tickets. It is important to underline that there was no quota or overselling of tickets.”

Mexico’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer mentioned those that bought official tickets can be refunded, and Ticketmaster mentioned it “will soon announce new measures of the latest technological generation that will considerably close the spaces for the sale of false and duplicate tickets.”

Ticketmaster has been beneath hearth lots, lately. The approach it dealt with, or moderately, mishandled presale tickets for Taylor Swift’s broadly well-liked, The Eras Tour even has the Department of Justice and U.S. lawmakers wanting into Ticketmaster’s monopoly on dwell occasions.