Madonna's management has responded to a lawsuit filed by two fans against the singer for starting her New York concerts two hours late.
The 65-year-old pop icon, who memorably arrived three hours late to her December show at Brooklyn's Barclays Center last year, is accused of “false advertising” in the lawsuit filed by concertgoers Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden against her and concert promoter Live Nation. accused.
The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, targets all three nights Madonna showed up late to the Barclays Center on December 13, 14 and 16. The plaintiffs alleged that the shows, which were scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET, did not begin until 10:30 p.m.
They claim the delayed launches are a “deliberate exercise of false advertising, negligent misrepresentation and unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
They also state that Madonna has a history of not starting her concerts on time.
Madonna's management has responded to a lawsuit filed by two fans against the singer for starting her New York concerts two hours late
Now her management and Live Nation have hit back at the lawsuit, telling TMZ, “Madonna just completed and sold out her 2023 Celebration Tour in Europe – which received rave reviews.”
“The shows opened as planned in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn, with the exception of a technical issue at soundcheck on December 13th. This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously.'
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs admit that Madonna had health problems that caused the original concert dates to be postponed from July to December – but do not see this as an excuse for the evenings' delays. The star was struck down by a life-threatening bacterial infection last year.
The fans say they paid $155.90 and $292.50 for the tickets, respectively, and are suing for unspecified damages.
The star was heavily criticized by fans at the first show of the US leg of her tour last month – when she turned up at 11pm – despite the start time being around 8.30pm.
Despite the delay, she put on a very raunchy show and stunned her fans as she performed her 45-song setlist that highlighted her record-breaking 40-year career.
It was later explained that the delay was due to technical problems and was only delayed by an hour as the opening act, DJ Honey Dijon, took the stage at 8:30 p.m
The Queen of Pop finally took the stage and began her show at 10:45 p.m
However, many of the music icon's fans took to social media to complain about waiting for the Material Girl hitmaker to start her show.
The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, targets all three nights Madonna showed up late to the Barclays Center on December 13, 14 and 16. Plaintiffs alleged that the shows, which were scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET, did not begin until 10:00 p.m.: P30 (pictured performing on December 14th)
One X user tweeted: “I don't give a fuck if you're Madonna. If you’re three hours late, you’re just fucking rude.”
“The concert was supposed to start at 8:30 a.m..” Madonna started at 11 p.m. The whole arena cheers because of her delay. “Great show but left way too late,” another person wrote, adding that DJ Honey Dijon opened the show with “boring house music.”
“2:30 hours late.” “I WANT A REFUND NOW,” another X user demanded.
“I love Madonna but it really sucks that she's literally two hours late to her FIRST show in the US,” tweeted another.
A source told People that Madonna overcame “issues during sound check that caused the schedule to be delayed by an hour” for her 14,000 fans and concertgoers.
Even though the doors opened for fans to enter the venue at 7:30 p.m. as planned, the singer was still “on sound check until they did to sort out the issues.”
She then took the stage just an hour late, the insider emphasized.
In November 2019, a fan in Florida named Nate Hollander sued Madonna after the singer changed her set times for her December 17 performance in Miami Beach
The star was heavily criticized by fans during the first show of the US leg of her tour last month – when she turned up at 11pm – despite the start time being around 8.30pm (pictured with Julia Garner on December 14).
He said in court documents that he bought three tickets in August for a December performance that was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m.
However, after she later changed her start times to 10:30 p.m., he claimed this made the tickets worth much less and he was denied a refund of the $1,024.95 he paid.
And in February 2020, the star was the subject of a class-action lawsuit from Antonio Velotta and Andrew Panos, who claimed they waited hours past the announced start time of their Madame X shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on September 21 and October 1, 2019.