Ellie Goulding is suing her former managers for securing her deals with Live Nation while concealing their business relationship with the ticketing giant, Variety reports. Goulding claims Benedict Mawson and Edward Millett of TaP Management failed to disclose that Live Nation had held a controlling stake in TaP Management’s parent company, HNOE (which is also a defendant), since 2015, and purchased the entire company in 2019.
After the full acquisition, Mawson became HNOE’s CEO, and he and Millett reported directly to “an individual designated by Live Nation’s chief executive officer,” according to the lawsuit. The two allegedly took a 20 percent commission while Goulding signed various contracts with Live Nation, including for concert promotion, merchandise, and a documentary film.
Mawson and Millett, who founded TaP Management in London in 2010, managed Goulding from 2018 through 2025. Goulding alleges that, during that time, she had no knowledge that her managers were contractually forbidden to encourage their artists “to cease to do business with” or “reduce the extent of” their business “with any company in the Live Nation group.”
As Live Nation staff, the complaint continues, Mawson and Millet “had a personal interest or duty in dealings between Ms. Goulding and companies in the Live Nation group which was in actual or potential conflict with the interests of Ms. Goulding in securing the best commercial terms with whichever promoter, merchandiser or other counterparty it was most advantageous for her to deal with.” She seeks “equitable compensation and/or damages for their breaches of fiduciary duty.”
On September 4, Goulding is releasing her sixth album, I Know Too Much via Polydor. Pitchfork has emailed her representatives and TaP Management for comment.
