Madonna sued for being 2 hours late on stage
PHOTO: Instagram/Madonna
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 19, 2024 8:09 AM
Madonna is being sued for being two hours late on stage.
The singer has faced criticism for regularly starting her concerts long after they were due to begin.
Now, disgruntled fans Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden have filed a lawsuit "on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated" in response to them having to wait hours at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn for her to start her Celebration show on Dec 13, one of three gigs she played at the venue.
The pair are suing Madonna and promoters Live Nation for false advertising and in court documents filed in the US District Court of Eastern New York and obtained by RadarOnline.com, the plaintiffs argued consumers were "lulled into purchasing tickets for concerts at the Barclays Centre to be put on by one of the premiere performers of the past 40 years".
They noted the original July 2023 concert date was pushed back due to "illness" and rescheduled for December 2023, with "the concerts at the Barclays Centre were advised to start at 8.30pm (9.30am Singapore time), but Madonna did not take the stage until after 10.30pm on all three nights, with most concert attendees leaving the Barclays Centre after 1am".
As a result, they argued the end time meant they encountered issues with "limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs" and had shortened amounts of sleep before they had to "get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day".
The fans blasted the 65-year-old star for allegedly demonstrating "flippant difficulty in ensuring a timely or complete performance" and "a wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices".
They claimed they were given no notice of the delayed start time, causing them to wait for hours at the venue, and highlighted Madonna's history of being late on stage, including during her 2016 Rebel Heart tour and other stops on her current Celebration run of shows.
The complaint said: "Madonna had a long history of arriving and starting her concerts late, sometimes several hours late.
"Defendants failed to provide any notice to the ticket holders that the concerts would start much later than the start time printed on the ticket and as advertised."
The fans are suing for unspecified "damages, statutory damages, treble damages, exemplary damages, costs and attorneys' fees" and highlighted the costly tickets, including Michael's US$155.90 (S$209) admission fee and the US$292.50 Jonathan paid to attend.
They want a trial by jury.