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FYI

Michael Cohl Pours Cold Water On Ticket Bots Controversy

The global live events impresario pours water on the myth of bots buying ducats. Pre-sales and holdbacks are the drains on the game. 

Michael Cohl Pours Cold Water On Ticket Bots Controversy

By External Source

“By the time [fan club presales, VIPs, “friends and family” and other holdbacks are] all done, if you’re limited to four tickets per purchase, it’s approximately 6,500 people (over two nights at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre where Elton John is playing that will get tickets,” he said. “You’re only going to have 6,000 to 9,000 ticket buyers (who get through) and you could have 300,000 trying … So the idea that people will just immediately say, ‘Well, it sold out in a minute and a half and it’s cheating’ — that’s total crap. Of course, it had to sell out instantly. Supply and demand — period. That is never going to change — bots or no bots.” – Michael Cohl, Toronto Sun


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The Weeknd at the "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" U.S. premiere held at Lincoln Center Fountain Plaza on May 18, 2025 in New York, New York.
Kristina Bumphrey/Variety

The Weeknd at the "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" U.S. premiere held at Lincoln Center Fountain Plaza on May 18, 2025 in New York, New York.

Rb Hip Hop

The Weeknd Appears to Do About-Face on Retiring Stage Name: ‘Imma Be Here Forever With You’

The artist born Abel Tesfaye said in 2025 that he'd "mastered" his alter ego and needed a new challenge.

Like a professional boxer who just can’t quit the ring, Abel Tesfaye can’t cut The Weeknd short. The singer revealed over the weekend that he’s reconsidered plans he announced last year to retire his stage persona. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he continues. “You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”

Tesfaye has been releasing music as The Weeknd since 2011, but last year when asked by Variety magazine to explain social media teasers for his then-upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow album that read: “The Weeknd/ The End is Near/ 8 beautiful chapters in this story,” he said he was considering retiring the name after he wrapped up his already-on-the-books commitments.

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