Some of Michelle Obama’s most devoted fans are now questioning their loyalty to the former First Lady after being unable to secure tickets to her arena book tour because of sky high ticket prices.
Although the tour doesn’t kick off until November, tickets are virtually all sold out with the only ones remaining costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Tickets start at $29.50 but most of these were snapped up within minutes of them going on sale.
It means that the only ones left are those which come with VIP treatment costing anything from $500 to a whopping $6,000, a price that is unheard of in the publishing world.
Michelle Obama (above in June) will be touring the country in support of her memoir Becoming beginning in November, and cheaper tickets are almost sold out at every venue
Tickets range from $29.95 for general admission to $3,000 for a VIP package which includes a front row seat, photo with Obama and signed book
Twitter users didn’t hold back in their criticism of the former First Lady and the ticket price
It has left many people bitter at the audacity of the pricing which is hardly ‘inclusionary’ – something the former First Lady is an advocate for.
‘I didn’t anticipate the lowest price would be $500, five minutes into the ticket sales,’ writer Michelle Duster said to CBS2.
‘I think there’s a disconnect: what they stand for, what they have stood for and worked for, and the ticket prices,’ said Duster.
Mrs. Obama will be making 12 stops in 10 cities to promote her memoir Becoming, and given the hype around the book will be appearing in arenas such as the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, the United Center in Chicago and TD Garden in Boston.
Almost all tickets and VIP packages are sold out, despite the fact that Obama will be appearing in arenas during the tour and not book stores
The $3,000 tickets see fans experiencing a meet & greet with Mrs Obama while also getting a front row seat, their very own photo with the former First Lady and an autographed copy of her book.
Another former First Lady, Hilary Clinton, ended up doing a series of talks and signings in bookshops around the country which was a far more low-key affair.
Mrs Obama, on the other hand, appears to be commanding Beyonce-like star power coupled with Beyonce-like prices.
Some critics believe that such pricing sense a message to fans that the Obamas are no longer ‘regular folk.’
Political consultant Delmarie Cobb said, ‘They have a reason to be upset because I’m sure they felt that if she was going to be a book tour, it was going to be for the masses, not just for the elite.’
Demand is so high at some venues that additional dates are being considered.
Two additional dates in Washington DC and Brooklyn have already been added and there is a possibility that more dates could be added still.
Twitter was deluged by frustrated fans of Michelle Obama who though the price of tickets to see the former First Lady in an arena setting was outrageous
‘You definitely wanted everyone to see her who can, but there’s also an element of ‘be proud of her.’ This is a former First Lady who made history and now she’s making history the way she’s doing her book tour,’ said Kyra Kyles, a contributor to The Grio.
One positive: tour promoter, Live Nation, is donating 10% of all ticket sales to charities, schools, and community groups to increase accessibility, which is why an arena tour was chosen in the first place.
The steep prices, however, seem to be working against that goal.
‘Truly humbled by the response to my upcoming book tour. I can’t wait to share BECOMING with all of you & hope to see you somewhere along the way!’ wrote Obama last Thursday in a Twitter post.
It was also announced that 10 percent of all proceeds from the book tour would be donated to ‘local charities, schools, and community groups.’
Tickets will also be given out for free to individuals who work for those aforementioned charities, schools and groups.
‘Mrs. Obama wanted to make her tour as accessible as possible’ , senior vice president of Live Nation Touring, said ilast week. ‘The Live Nation team also knew the demand for her tour would be extraordinary. For these reasons, we knew an arena tour would maximize the number of people who will be able to join this unforgettable conversation with Mrs. Obama.’
The tour will also cost Mrs. Obama more than most authors, due to the costs for production, venue rentals, lighting, sound and additional security.
This is just the latest bit of history Obama is making, having already shattered the record for the biggest contract ever for a debut book.
Became: She earned a record advance for her first novel after Penguin Random House secured her and Barack Obama’s post-White House memoirs for $60 million
She and husband Barack Obama were paid $60 million for their post-White House memoirs after an intense bidding war that was ultimately won by Penguin Random House.
And it is four times more than the reported $14million Hillary Clinton earned for her 2014 release Hard Choices about her time at the State Department.
Hillary received $8million over a decade prior on 2001 for her first memoir, Living History. She was a New York senator at that time and had to have the deal approved by the Senate Ethics Committee.
President Donald Trump meanwhile received just a $500,000 advance for The Art of the Deal, which he split with the ghost writer of the book.
That book has gone on however to earn him millions in royalties, having made its way back on the bestsellers list back in 2004 when he launched The Apprentice and ever since announced his candidacy for president in 2015.