Quote:
Variety.com: Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne’s manager...(has)...followed through on (a) threat to sue AEG over its policy requiring artists who want to play the O2 Arena in London to also play at the Staples Center in...the Los Angeles area...
AEG’s 21,000-capacity Staples Center and Azoff-MSG, which owns the...17,500-capacity...Forum...have been embroiled in...a long-running turf battle...AEG chief Jay Marciano claims that the policy was implemented in response to a similar policy connect(ing) Madison Square Garden and the Forum; Irving Azoff has said that such a policy is no longer in place at his company’s venues...
Osbourne’s promoter attempted to book the singer’s “No More Tours 2” tour into the O2 and were confronted with the Staples requirement...(T)he complaint says that “Ozzy commences this action (on his own behalf and for all similarly situated artists) to prohibit AEG from enforcing the Staples Center Commitment, an unlawful tying arrangement that unfairly leverages AEG’s dominance in greater London to distort and deter competition in greater Los Angeles.”
...AEG’s O2/Staples requirement came about in response to a challenge from MSG that, according to sources, 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, sources say, AEG informed agents and promoters that acts who perform at The Forum instead of Staples will not be booked at London’s O2 Arena...
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Between being managed by Azoff and two upcoming gigs at Madison Square Garden, I guess we know whose side Bon Jovi is on, LOL!