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Lee Zeidman, longtime president of Crypto.com Arena, Peacock Theater and LA Live, announced his retirement on Friday (March 28).
“After 45 years in the industry, opening numerous venues and hosting approximately 6,500 events, I have decided I’m no longer interested in working full time and will move on to write the next chapter in the book of Lee,” Zeidman tells Billboard. “I’m looking forward to doing whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever I want and however I want.”
Zeidman says he has agreed to assist with the leadership transition with an official end date no later than Oct. 31, 2025. The building’s ownership group, AEG, has engaged an executive recruitment team to find Zeidman’s replacement and is splitting the job into multiple positions.
Zeidman is a graduate of Cal State Northridge and got his big break working at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. When the Lakers and Kings decided to move to Downtown Los Angeles, Zeidman was the first employee hired at their new home, Staples Center, and he helped manage the construction of L.A. Live, one of North America’s first entertainment districts.
In 2020, Zeidman was honored with the Association of Luxury Suite Directors’ 2020 Visionary Award. Under his management, Staples Center, later renamed Crypto.com Arena, hosted nine NBA championships, three Stanley Cup Finals and five WNBA Finals. The arena has also hosted a multitude of sold-out concerts, awards shows and high-profile events, including the Grammys and funerals for Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle.
Zeidman says he has no immediate plans in his retirement but would like to teach and serve on the board of different non-profit groups or associations.
“I’m most looking forward to doing nothing,” Zeidman says. “Iv’e done this for 45 years, I’ve worked for some incredible leaders and feel incredibly lucky to have had this career.”
DJ Miss Milan & Jayda Love present Doechii with the Woman of the Year Award at Billboard’s Women in Music. DJ Miss Milan & Jayda Love: What’s up ladies? I am DJ Miss Milan and I’m Jayda Love. And we are so thrilled to be here tonight to honor our girl, Doechii. Two years ago […]
Erykah Badu accepts the Group of the Year award at Billboard Women In Music 2025. Erykah Badu: Thank you so much. Hey. Thank you so much. Peace and love, how y’all feel. Sisters, how y’all feel? This night is for us. It’s a night to celebrate the womb of the world, the womb of life, […]
President Donald Trump was joined at the White House on Monday (March 31) by Kid Rock for the signing of an executive order that instructs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce the BOTS Act and crack down on scalpers who illegally obtain high-priced concert tickets for resale.
Signed in 2016, the BOTS Act made it illegal to use specialized computer programs or automated bots to defeat access control systems designed to limit the number of tickets a person can purchase online for a popular concert. The legislation was created to combat bot-assisted attacks on high-profile ticket sales but has only been enforced once since its passage.
The order directs the FTC to work with Attorney General Pam Bondi to “ensure that competition laws are appropriately enforced in the concert and entertainment industry” and to “rigorously enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities.” It additionally calls for greater transparency around ticket prices and asks law enforcement to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market”; and instructs both the Secretary of the Treasury (currently Scott Bessent) and the Attorney General to make sure “ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable law.”
The order also instructs the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, and the FTC to deliver a report within 180 days “summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed.”
During the signing, Rock thanked the president for the order, adding that it’s a first step in cracking down on bots that “come in and…get all the good tickets for your favorite shows they want to go to, and they relist them, sometimes for a 400 to 500% markup.”
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) issued a statement shortly after the signing that read, “We applaud President Trump’s Executive Order to protect fans from ticket scalping by individuals and companies built to fleece American consumers. We are also encouraged to see the order’s aim to remedy anti-competitive actions by large corporations. These actions will help address the two problems jeopardizing the well-being of artists, independent stages, and fans: a predatory, unchecked resale market where bots and deceptive practices price gouge fans and the Live Nation monopoly that forces small businesses to shut their doors.”
The statement continued, “We want to thank Kid Rock for the education and advocacy he has provided policymakers on this critical issue. We urge Congress to heed his call to go further to protect artists in ticketing legislation, including a price cap on the resale market.”
Ticketing companies, booking agents, concert promoters and special interest music groups have all lobbied for greater FTC enforcement of the BOTS Act, which specifically “prohibits the circumvention of a security measure, access control system, or other technological measure on an Internet website or online service of a ticket issuer that is used to enforce posted event ticket purchasing limits.” Industry experts agree that companies like Ticketmaster are best suited for identifying bad actors, but can’t unilaterally take action and must work directly with federal authorities.
Erykah Badu performs “Annie Don’t Wear No Panties” at Billboard Women In Music 2025. It was legend meeting the next generation she birthed when Ms. Erykah Badu received the Music Icon Award from R&B star Summer Walker. And it turns out that Badu was the doula who delivered Walker’s twin sons. “She’s been my fave […]
Morgan Wallen’s early Saturday Night Live exit made headlines over the weekend, and now longtime cast member Kenan Thompson is weighing in.
“I don’t know what goes through people’s minds when they decide to do stuff like that. I don’t know if he understood the assignment or not, or if he was really feeling a certain kind of way,” Thompson told Entertainment Weekly. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.”
The moment happened at the end of the episode, in which Wallen appeared as musical guest to perform a pair of songs from his forthcoming album, I’m the Problem. As is customary, Wallen joined the SNL cast onstage alongside host Mikey Madison to thank viewers for tuning in. Typically, the week’s guests hug and celebrate with the cast members onstage for a few moments before the episode ends.
However, Wallen was seen whispering something into Madison’s ear, giving her a hug and abruptly walking off the stage at Studio 8H. Shortly after, Wallen shared a photo on his Instagram Stories from his private plane, with the caption “Get me to God’s country” written over an image of the runway.
“It’s definitely a spike in the norm,” Thompson said. “We’re so used to everybody just turning around and high-fiving us, everybody’s saying, ‘Good job, good job, good job.’ So when there’s a departure from that, it’s like, hmm, I wonder what that’s about?”
Thompson added that it’s not the first time a musical guest left the stage suddenly. “Prince did the same thing,” he recalled. “I’m not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren’t surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish. It’s just how he was. So we just thought like, ‘Okay, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.’”
He continued, “But Saturday I guess it was just different because it just felt so abrupt. And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible. You know what I’m saying? It was a pretty visible thing.”
Thompson also weighed in on Wallen’s Instagram Story post. “The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say? You trying to say that we are not in God’s country? We’re not all in God’s country? We’re not all under God’s umbrella? That’s not necessarily my favorite,” he said. “But whatever. Moving on, we got a new show. We got Jack Black this week.
Wallen has yet to explain his side of the story publicly.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Following his very public fallout with Cam’ron and Ma$e, Jim Jones has been hard at work promoting his latest album At The Church’s Steps, and has basically released a new visual in support of the album every week since its release last month.
Continuing to stay on his grind, Jim Jones drops off some new visuals to the ALLSUMMERLONG-assisted “Fashion Killa” in which Capo delves into the world of fashion and shows how spiffy he can get with the attire but aside from walking the runway, Jones styles on the streets and in basically anywhere he lays his hat as he treats his entire life as one big fashion show. Can’t be mad at that.
From Harlem to LA, YG takes us on a trip down memory lane, and in his Buddy & The Gang featured “2004,” YG reminisces about his life growing up with flashbacks about his youth and interesting experiences.
Check out the rest of today’s drops and some joints you might’ve missed over the weekend, including work from NEMS, Redman, Method Man, and DJ Premier, along with more.
JIM JONES ft. ALLSUMMERLONG – “FASHION KILLA”
YG FT. BUDDY & THE GANG – “2004”
REDMAN & METHOD MAN & DJ PREMIER – “LALALA REMIX”
NEMS – “GOD’S HANDS”
GINO MONDANA FT. FIVIO FOREIGN – “CRASH OUT”
G. DEP – “CHARGED WITH WINNING”
B.G. FT. FREDO BANG – “BEEN A DOG”
G PERICO & DJ DRAMA – “LA TAKEOVER”
CJ FLY – “GRIND”
Summer Walker presents Erykah Badu with the Icon Award at Billboard Women In Music 2025. Summer Walker: Hello, Billboard Women in Music! A few things have changed since I was last here in 2022, including having my twin boys. Thank you. And I’m not just bringing that up because I love being a mom—shout out […]
aespa accepts the Group of the Year award at Billboard Women In Music 2025. aespa: Hello, everyone. We’re aespa, and I’m Giselle. Hi, I’m Karina. Hi, I’m Winter. I’m Ningning. Wow. What an incredible honor. We are so grateful to be in this room filled with such amazing artists that truly inspire us. And, of […]
Save this storySaveSave this storySaveChubby and the Gang, the London punk outfit, led by Charlie “Chubby Charles” Manning-Walker, have broken up. They shared the news in a brief statement posted to Instagram: “Every dog has his day, ours came and went away. Thank you for the good times sorry for the bad ones and for a great six years. Who fuckin loves ya? Chubby does 😈❤️🥹”.Formed in 2019, Chubby and the Gang had strong ties to the decade’s British post-hardcore scene: Manning-Walker had played with Violent Reaction and Arms Race, while other original members came from the Brighton groups Vile Spirit and Gutter Knife. The band put out their debut album Speed Kills—produced by Fucked Up’s Jonah Falco and notable for boasting not one, but two theme songs—in February of 2020 on Static Shock Records.Soon after, Chubby and the Gang settled into a lineup of Manning-Walker, guitarists Ethan Stahl and Tom “Razor” Hardwick, bassist Maegan Brooks Mills, and drummer Joe McMahon. They signed to Partisan, releasing The Mutt’s Nuts in 2021 and an EP, Labour of Love, early the following year. However, alongside the news of 2022’s holiday double single Chubby and the Gang Presents: A Christmas Extravaganza, Manning-Walker announced that he had replaced all members of the band aside from himself. Their final album, And Then There Was…, came out last October.Read about Speed Kills on “The 25 Best Rock Albums of 2020,” and revisit Madison Bloom’s column “A Guide to Static Shock Records, One of the UK’s Best DIY Punk Labels.”