Madonna is being sued for being two hours late on stage.
The “Frozen” 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 having to wait hours at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the singer to start her “Celebration” show on Dec. 13. That show was one of three gigs she played at the venue.
The pair are suing Madonna and promoters Live Nation for false advertising. In court documents filed in the U.S. 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 Center 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 Center were advised to start at 8:30 p.m., but Madonna did not take the stage until after 10:30 p.m. on all three nights, with most concert attendees leaving the Barclay Center after 1:00 a.m.”
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 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. The plaintiffs 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.
“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 complaint said.
The fans are suing for unspecified “damages, statutory damages, treble damages, exemplary damages, costs and attorneys’ fees” and highlighted the costly tickets, including Fellows’ $155.90 admission fee and the $292.50 Hadden paid to attend. The two want a trial by jury.
