Ellie Goulding Sues Former Managers Over Alleged Live Nation Conflict of Interest

British pop star Ellie Goulding has sued her former managers, Ben Mawson and Ed Millett of TaP Management, accusing them of failing to tell her about their company’s ownership ties to Live Nation.

Goulding says the undisclosed relationship created a conflict of interest that may have worked against her interests during the years the two managers represented her.

According to the legal claim, Mawson and Millett managed Goulding from 2018 until 2025 and received a 20% commission. During that period, Goulding entered into several agreements with companies connected to Live Nation, covering touring, merchandise and a documentary film.

The singer claims she did not know that Live Nation owned TaP’s parent company, HNOE. Live Nation first acquired a 50.1% stake in HNOE in 2015 and completed its acquisition of the company four years later.

The claim argues that this ownership structure put Goulding’s managers in a difficult position. As employees of a Live Nation-controlled business, Mawson and Millett allegedly had obligations that could have conflicted with their responsibility to seek the best possible deals for Goulding.

The lawsuit points to contractual restrictions that allegedly prevented the managers from encouraging artists to end or reduce their business with Live Nation or its affiliated companies.

Goulding argues that this could have limited her managers’ ability to negotiate freely with competing promoters, merchandise companies and other business partners.

The claim also states that, after Live Nation fully acquired HNOE, Mawson became its CEO, while both managers reported directly to an individual designated by Live Nation’s chief executive.

Goulding is seeking equitable compensation and/or damages for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, along with other related entitlements. The amount she is seeking has not been specified.

Mawson and Millett managed Goulding during a significant period of her career, when she continued to expand her global touring and commercial activities. She has since moved back to manager Sarah Stennett and is represented worldwide by WME.

The legal dispute comes as Goulding prepares to release her sixth studio album, I Know Too Much, on September 4.

The case will now determine whether the ownership and contractual relationships surrounding TaP Management created legal conflicts that breached the former managers’ duties to Goulding.