British pop star Olivia Dean publicly criticized Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and AEG Presents on Friday, November 21, for the exorbitant resale ticket prices for her upcoming 2026 North American tour, dubbed "The Art of Loving Tour." Tickets for the highly anticipated tour quickly sold out within minutes of going on sale to the general public, leading to some resale prices soaring into the thousands of dollars, a situation Dean described as "disgusting" and "vile."

In a series of Instagram Stories, Dean voiced her strong disapproval, writing, "@Ticketmaster @Livenation @AEGPresents you are providing a disgusting service. The prices at which you’re allowing tickets to be re-sold is vile and completely against our wishes. Live music should be affordable and accessible and we need to find a new way of making that possible. BE BETTER." She further added that her team was actively looking into the issue, expressing her frustration that fans might be "scammed or overcharged" and cautioning against buying tickets from suspicious sources in comment sections.

In response to Dean's criticism, Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010 to form Live Nation Entertainment, reshared her Instagram Story. On its own account, Ticketmaster stated, "We support artists’ ability to set the terms of how their tickets are sold and resold. @oliviadeano, we will cap resale prices on our site at face value and hope other resale sites will follow." The company referenced its "Face Value Exchange" system, which was detailed in a July blog post as a mechanism to help fans purchase tickets at their original price. Billboard has reportedly reached out to Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and AEG Presents for further comment on the situation.

The "Art of Loving Tour" is set to commence in the U.K. and Europe in April 2026, kicking off in Glasgow, Scotland, and concluding in Dublin on June 20. Following this, Dean's U.S. summer trek will begin on July 10 in San Francisco. Her North American itinerary includes stops in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York City (featuring four shows at Madison Square Garden), Atlanta, Toronto, Las Vegas, Boston, Houston, and will wrap up in Austin on August 28.

Dean's announcement of her headlining North American tour earlier in November came after a period of significant career momentum. This includes opening for Sabrina Carpenter on the final leg of her "Short n’ Sweet Tour," making her Saturday Night Live debut on November 15, and performing a show in Sydney and at the 2025 ARIA Awards during a recent trip to Australia. The 26-year-old artist currently boasts four tracks on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Man I Need" notably charting at No. 5. Furthermore, her album, "The Art of Loving," is positioned at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart dated November 22.