Legislation dubbed the “Taylor Swift bill” has passed in Minnesota in an effort to help people buy concert tickets.
The bill, officially called House File 1989 in reference to Taylor Swift’s hit album and the year she was born, was signed into Minnesota law on Tuesday.
It will require sellers offering tickets to people in the state or tickets for concerts being held there to disclose all fees up front and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures.
Minnesota State Representative Kelly Moller, chief author of the bill, pushed for the legislation after she tried to get tickets to one of Swift’s concerts in 2022.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The situation led to congressional hearings but no federal legislation.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:20
Hidden meanings in Taylor Swift album?
Governor Tim Walz, who signed the bill into law at First Avenue, a popular concert venue in downtown Minneapolis, said it was “protection so you don’t get a bad ticket, a fraudulent ticket, and resellers can’t snatch them all up before you get an opportunity”.
More from Ents & Arts
Two young girls – one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT going on at the moment” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that said “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark – attended the bill signing with their dad, Mike Dean, who testified in support of it.
Mr Dean said his daughter came to him in December and said she wanted to see Clark play. He said the website initially showed the tickets would cost $300 total, but they ended up costing over $500 because of hidden fees.
Advertisement
The timer had begun in the online checkout process, so he had just minutes to decide whether to buy the tickets for the higher price or lose them.
He ultimately bought them, but he told the Associated Press these practices mean customers can’t make informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.
Sky News contacted Ticketmaster for comment.
A spokesperson for fellow ticket sales giants StubHub said: “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket buying process.
“We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control, and more choice for ticket buyers.”
The law takes effect from 1 January 2025 and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.
RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vivienne was remembered at a vigil in their home city of Liverpool on Sunday night.
James Lee Williams, originally from Colwyn Bay in North Wales, died on 5 January aged 32.
Hundreds of fans and friends of The Vivienne gathered at Liverpool‘s St George’s Hall.
Buildings across the city were lit up in green to commemorate the drag queen and their role as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard Of Oz musical.
Fellow drag queen Danny Beard said the vigil was “a celebration of someone who touched the lives of so many”.
“The Vivienne was one of the world’s most recognisable drag queens, a proper world class entertainer,” they added.
“And above all a shining beacon in all of our lives and especially for the LGBT community.”
Since The Vivienne first rose to prominence in 2019, they appeared on a number of TV programmes, including Blankety Blank over the Christmas period.
The first episode in the series of Dancing On Ice on Sunday night also featured a tribute to The Vivienne, who competed on the 2023 series.
Presenter Holly Willoughby said many would have been “saddened by the tragic news”.
“They were a huge part of our show, making it all the way to the final in 2023,” she added.
“They will be very sorely missed and our thoughts are with The Vivienne’s loved ones at this time. So sad.”
In a tribute released after Mr Williams’s death, a Dancing On Ice spokesperson said they were “deeply saddened” by the news.
They said Mr Williams had made “TV history through their groundbreaking and spellbinding skating partnership”, becoming the first drag act to reach the Dancing On Ice final.
In an interview withThe Sun, his first since he underwent the lifesaving surgery, the 36-year-old described the moment when he thought he would die.
He said: “If I could go from being absolutely on top of the world to being told ‘the bottom part of your heart isn’t working’, I kept thinking in my head, ‘Well, what if the top half stops working overnight?'”
“That first night I wrote a will, I thought I was going to die,” the 36-year-old musician added.
On the night of 13 December, George said his heart rate and blood pressure dropped, “I felt like I was dying,” he said.
He had a pacemaker fitted by doctors during the surgery, but the former Strictly Come Dancing star said he made a will on his phone fearing the worst.
More on The Wanted
Related Topics:
Before the surgery, George said his thoughts turned to his partner, British actress Maisie Smith, and his family who he feared he’d leave behind.
He shared updates on social media throughout the process.
Instagram
This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Instagram cookies for this session only.
Tom Parker, who also rose to fame in the 2010s with the boy band along with George, died at the age of 33 after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has announced she is pregnant with twins.
The singer, 33, said she was “eating for three now” on her Instagram alongside a polaroid picture of her with Zion Foster, with whom she was reported to have split up last year.
Nelson shared the touching post on Sunday, letting the world know she is set to become a mum for the first time – including two baby emojis next to her message.
The cosy picture shows the pair smiling in a kitchen.
Nelson rose to fame with the girl band Little Mix, which formed on The X Factor in 2011 and earned a string of UK number-one singles.
However, she left in December 2020 after nine years, saying the pressures of being in the group had taken a toll on her mental health.
Nelson has since performed as a solo artist but still had praise for her former bandmates, telling The Graham Norton Show in 2021: “To me they are still the sickest girl band in the world.”
Little Mix continued as a trio after Nelson’s departure in December 2020 before going on hiatus in 2022.