Becoming pricey! £500 to see Michelle
HER bestselling memoir Becoming has received rapturous reviews from around the world.
But Michelle Obama’s fans are rather less impressed by the offer to see her talk about its contents live on stage – with ticket prices described as ‘obscene’.
The 55-year-old’s show – which has just one UK date on April 14 – is taking place at London’s O2 Arena, which seats up to 20,000 people. It is nearly sold out, with most remaining tickets listed for over £180 on AXS, a website linked to the O2 official page.
Those wanting to sit in the nearest section to the stage can expect to fork out £486, while some resale tickets are listed for as high as £546. Last night there were just three seats still available at a resale price of £96.
Meanwhile a front-row ‘Platinum’ seat on Ticketmaster is listed for as high as £800 with no additional perks included.
Fans have complained about the price of ‘Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama’ on social media, with some pointing out ‘you could see a decent band or three’ for the same amount money.
Joyce Elliott, who wanted to attend the event, wrote: ‘Huge fan and the book is fantastic. What I am not loving is the price of tickets for O2 London... to charge hundreds of pounds is obscene. How is that justifiable?’
Charley James said: ‘Cannot believe how steeply priced tickets to see Michelle Obama are. That’s not an accessible price point.
‘And the sad thing is that the women who need to hear Michelle the most may not be able to access this event.’
Industry experts say that event managers, in this case Live Nation, typically set ticket prices following a discussion with the artist or speaker.
But Gideon Gottfried, from trade magazine Pollstar, said: ‘The act has the last word on the price. But it’s a conversation. The promoter may advise them. It’s hard to figure out who made the final decision.’
Her book Becoming is on track to be the most successful memoir in modern publishing history, selling more than 10million copies worldwide in five months.
Her spokesman was yet to respond last night. An O2 spokesman said they could not comment on the event or its prices.
A spokesman for Live Nation said: ‘It is important to Mrs Obama that her events are accessible. Mrs Obama and Live Nation are donating a portion of ticket inventory to organisations including charities and schools.’ and community groups.’