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Madonna Sued by Fans Over Late Concert Start

Entertainment

January 22, 2024

Two Madonna fans, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, have filed a lawsuit against the singer, alleging that she inconvenienced concertgoers by appearing hours late for her performance.

According to the civil action reported by Sky News’ US partner site NBC, the 65-year-old artist took the stage at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center at 10:45 pm on December 13, 2023, which was two hours and 15 minutes later than the scheduled 8:30 pm start time.

The delayed start of the concert, extending until around 1 am, resulted in fans facing challenges such as “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing” options, and increased transportation costs at that late hour, as outlined by lawyers Richard Klass and Marcus Corwin.

The lawsuit, considering the concert was held on a Wednesday evening, argued that many attendees had to contend with the inconvenience of having to “get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day.”

Madonna, listed under her full name Madonna Louise Ciccone, is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with event promoters Live Nation and the Barclays Center.

Mr. Fellows and Mr. Hadden alleged they suffered “actual harm” due to Madonna’s lateness, including but “not limited” to “annoyance, harassment, time, frustration, and anger,” as reported by NBC based on the contents of the lawsuit.

The Celebration Tour, commemorating Madonna’s 40 years in the music industry, had a series of delayed starts, with the Barclays Center show in Brooklyn being a notable instance.

The tour originally had a Canada start date, but it was postponed when the singer faced a serious bacterial infection in late June. The trend of delayed starts continued in subsequent performances, including shows in Boston, Toronto, and Detroit during her January concerts, as documented by Setlist.fm, a website that tracks songs and timings of major concerts.