Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Fiasco Draws PA Attorney General's Scrutiny

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro wants to hear from the legion of Taylor Swift fans across the state who were unable to get tickets to her 2023 tour after Ticketmaster canceled the public sale of them on Thursday.

The governor-elect took to Twitter urging those irate over the cancellation to complain to his office. The tweet even referenced a lyric in Swift's 2012 song, "I Knew You Were Trouble."

The pop superstar is scheduled to play five Pennsylvania shows on her Eras Tour : May 12-14 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and June 16 and 17 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

But many fans in those cities and across the nation were left in the lurch after Ticketmaster abruptly announced Thursday there would be no general public sale of Swift tickets that was slated to begin today.

"Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour has been cancelled," Ticketmaster stated via Twitter.

A Tuesday pre-sale for verified Swift fans was announced the day plans for the tour were unveiled for Nov. 1. Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, Ticketmaster's largest shareholder, claimed during a CNBC appearanace that the ticketing fiasco was "a function of Taylor Swift."

"The site was supposed to open up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans," he said. "We had 14 million people hit the site, including bots, which are not supposed to be there."

Maffei said the demand for Swift tickets "could have filled 900 stadiums."

Shapiro is not the only state attorney general interested in the ticketing debacle. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office issued a tweet stating that he "and his consumer protection team will use every available tool to ensure that no consumer protection laws were violated."

National politicians also have begun weighing in on the controversy.

In an open letter Thursday to Ticketmaster CEO Michael Rapino, Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota expressed “serious concerns about the state of competition in the ticketing industry and its harmful impact on consumers.”