Two Madonna fans are reportedly suing the US singer for being consistently late by more than two hours for a show last month in New York, according to court documents.
The fans claim that the scheduled start time was 20:30 EST for all three nights, but in each case, the show did not begin until after 22:30, concluding around 01:00.
The lawsuit suggests that the fans “would not have paid for tickets” had they been aware the show would conclude so late. The BBC has sought comments from Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center, but there has been no response as of now.
The case, brought by Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, states that “many ticketholders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day”.
They are suing promoter Live Nation and venue the Barclays Center for “false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices”.
Mr. Fellows and Mr. Hadden attended the show on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. The legal documents highlight that, according to reports, other nights at the same venue on December 14 and 16 also began more than two hours late.
“Defendants failed to provide any notice to the ticketholders that the concerts would start much later than the start time printed on the ticket and as advertised, which resulted in the ticketholders waiting for hours,” the document state.
The court papers also say Madonna “has a long history of arriving and starting her concerts late, sometimes several hours late”, citing examples including “her 2016 Rebel Heart Tour, her 2019-2020 Madame X Tour, and prior tours, where Madonna continuously started her concerts over two hours late”.
The plaintiffs are reportedly suing for unspecified damages. This legal action follows a pattern where fans have expressed dissatisfaction with the singer’s tardiness for her shows. In a previous incident in 2019, a fan filed a lawsuit over a delay for a US show, but the case was voluntarily dismissed a month later, as reported by ABC News.
In the same year, Madonna had shared a post of her live on stage, in which she told fans: “There’s something that you all need to understand. And that is, that a queen is never late.”
Madonna’s sold-out Celebration tour was a compilation of her greatest hits, featuring more than 40 songs from her illustrious career. The tour aimed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her breakout single, “Holiday,” and spanned various venues in the US, Canada, and Europe.
The singer faced a health scare last summer when she was found unconscious in her New York apartment in June. Madonna was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where she received treatment for a serious bacterial infection. Following the health incident, she expressed gratitude for being alive but had to postpone the start of the tour from July to October of the same year.