Madonna’s lawyers have filed a motion asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit against her due to late concert start times. The suit was brought by two fans, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, who purchased tickets to Madonna’s ‘Celebration’ tour at Barclays Center in December. They claim that the concert began more than two hours late and accused the ‘Material Girl’ singer of breaching contracts and committing “false advertising, negligent representation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
In response to the lawsuit, Madonna’s representatives have cited the plaintiffs’ alleged injury as speculation that concertgoers who had to leave after 1 am might have had trouble getting transportation home or waking up early for work the next day. The plaintiffs argued that the 8:30 pm start time listed on their tickets was material to their decision to purchase the tickets, and that leaving the concert at 1 am left them with limited public transportation options and higher costs.
Madonna and Live Nation released a joint statement saying they will “defend this case vigorously.” They attributed the delay to a technical difficulty experienced during the soundcheck. The first North American shows at Barclays in Brooklyn began as planned, except for the technical issue on December 13th. Madonna’s lawyers also cite a social media post from Hadden raving about the show, calling it “incredible as always!”
Fellows’ and Hadden’s lawyers cited New York State’s General Business Law 149, claiming that Madonna’s late start times violated state law. They argue that the artist’s inaccurate representation of the start time, the failure to provide notice of the later start to attendees, or offer a refund option all constituted violations of the law. The plaintiffs are also claiming legal damages due to being unable to fulfill family responsibilities or work obligations the following day.
Madonna has announced that she will play her biggest-ever show on May 4 at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. The concert is free to attend and is her first performance in Brazil since 2012
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