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She makes a valid point, though she's not exactly arguing as the voice of the people.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on May 15, 2023
Taylor Swift is currently on her whirlwind Eras tour, performing in stadiums across the country, but not everyone is happy with how tickets to her show were distributed, including former "Real Housewives Of New York City" star Bethenny Frankel.
Bethenny Frankel argues that only the ‘elite’ can afford to see Taylor Swift in concert, and not her real fans.
“Let’s talk about Taylor,” Frankel said while filming herself putting on makeup in what appeared to be a walk-in closet. “While it was an incredible experience, a really lovely experience, especially on Mother’s Day weekend with my daughter, it got me thinking.”
Frankel shared her thoughts on high ticket prices, community access to art, and various ways to effect some sort of change in the industry.
“So, I was invited by a money manager in Philadelphia and I’m not ride-or-die Taylor, and my daughter hasn’t been ride-or-die Taylor,” Frankel explained, glossing over the fact that she’s part of the elite class that she’s railing against. “We had such an incredible experience and she seemed to be a positive role model, as far as musical role models can go, from what I know. And we had a really wonderful time.”
Frankel goes on to halfway tackle a complex topic: what it means to hold economic and cultural capital in an unequal and stratified society.
She continued, "I was posting about it, and it occurred to me that it definitely felt quote-unquote privileged. It felt like… I felt a little bit of guilt. We were there and it was amazing, but I heard stories of people who couldn’t get tickets."
She then referenced the many thousands of fans who wait outside Swift's concerts despite not having tickets. "I thought to myself, the people in the parking lot are probably the workhorses of Taylor Swift. It’s not me. I’m not the one that’s ride-or-die that got her to where she is and they are,” Frankel notes.
Frankel offered her thoughts on a possible solution to the issue of rising ticket prices, one that didn’t include cutting out the middle-man structure of how tickets are sold.
She suggests that the already pricey tickets be raised in price again and it should be a "buy one, give one away" system.
"It should be, you buy a ticket, and they give away a ticket, because it really is unfortunate, and I felt guilty when people were messaging me, saying, like, ‘I wish I could’ve gone, I couldn’t afford it, I’ll never get to go in my life,’ and no one was trolling me about it, just a fact that they’ll never get to go in their life. And it kinda broke my heart.”
Frankel explained that she actually had tickets to see Swift perform again but ended up giving them away to an unnamed mother and daughter. She also questioned how and why concert-going has become an "elitist sport."
“People that I know who have money are saying ‘it’s $1000 for a ticket’ and they can’t go," she continues, "It just shouldn’t be that, like, someone who’s just a middle-class person would think that they could never in their wildest dreams afford to go to this concert, because then it’s really becoming a major disparity and that I don’t like.”
Frankel’s 2023 net worth is reported to be $85 million. Tickets to the Eras tour ranged from $49 to $449. VIP ticket package prices ranged from $199 to $899 but were limited to a first-come, first-served system that many fans did not have access to. The least expensive ticket available now on StubHub for Taylor Swift's May 20 tour date is $1,642 (before fees) and has a restricted view of the stage.
“There’s no middle-class in the concert-going business anymore,” Frankel exclaimed. “And now what if you are at the poverty level, you never get to go to a concert to listen to music?”
She disregards the fact that there’s no true middle class anywhere, anymore— 3.79 million Americans were reported to be living below the poverty line in 2021, which accounts for 11.6% of the US population.
Her hot take on the wealth disparity in the US seems well-intentioned, yet she misses the larger point— the issue is that there’s such an extreme wealth disparity that people’s basic human needs aren’t being met, let alone their ability to see live music. Frankel’s not wrong. Art should be accessible to all who want to consume it. But the issue is a lot larger than how much concert tickets sell for and the only real cure is restructuring how the economy functions, and shifting whose interests it serves.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.