All 20,000 tickets for Jay-Z's "Answer The Call," benefit concert at New York's Madison Square Garden tonight sold out within a matter of minutes on Tuesday morning (Sept 8). Tickets were priced at a reasonable $54.50 to give fans access to the concert and maximize profit for the 9/11 charity, but there has been outrage from both fans and organizers since the tickets started popping up for resale on sites like eBay and Craigslist for over $3,000.Jay-Z admitted that he was "disheartened" by the situation and told Fox News that he had taken the risk of underselling the show by setting ticket sales so close to the concert date, all in an attempt to avoid scalping. "That's always a problem, as an industry we have to figure out a way to fix that, because true fans, they don't get a chance to see the show," he said. "And on top of that, this being such a positive event, it just turned it a little sour." He made it clear that the inflated ticket prices would not benefit his charitable cause. "We do not support any profits made from reselling any ticket that was meant to be purchased by honest fans," he said.
But, it looks like public speaking might be another one of Jay-Z's talents, because less than two days after his harsh words, some scalpers have already had a change of heart. Popular re-sale site Stubhub.com fessed up to their participation in the scalping scheme and in a statement released today, Stubhub president Chris Tsakalakis offered to donate 100% of sale profits to charity. "We strive to provide a first-in-class experience for our fans and have chosen to partner with the New York Police and Fire Window's and Children's Benefit Fund for this event, rather than removing ticket listings and turning fans away," he said. "In keeping with the original intent of the concert, we want to be sure that any StubHub profits from Jay-Z's show go directly to these families." Hov must be pleased.
The "Answer the Call" benefit concert will air live on Fuse.
