NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Two Madonna fans have filed a lawsuit against the pop icon, alleging that her “Celebration Tour” in New York City started two hours behind schedule, disrupting their plans for an early morning the next day.
Michael Fellows and Johnathan Hadden purchased tickets for the Dec. 13 concert at Barclays Center. The concert was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m., but Madonna “did not take the stage until after 10:30 p.m.,” according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, CBS News reports.
The plaintiffs claim that concertgoers left the venue after 1 a.m., and once the show was finished had to navigate “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs at that late hour,” according to court documents, NewsNation affiliate WPIX reports.
Fellows and Hadden said they wouldn’t have purchased tickets had they known the concert would end so late. The concert was held on a Wednesday, and they cite they “had to get up early to work” the next day, NBC New York reports.
The lawsuit highlights Madonna’s history of late concert start. In 2012, a Madonna concert in Miami didn’t start around 11:30 p.m., CBS News reports. A Melbourne concert in 2016 started more than four hours late, while her Brisbane show that same year was delayed by two hours.
This is not the first lawsuit Madonna has faced over late concert start times. In 2019, a Florida fan sued alleging the original start time of a show at the Fillmore Miami Beach was changed to 10:30 p.m., according to CBS News.
However, the plaintiffs allege that, unlike the Florida show, there was no advance notice of the late start.
Fellows and Hadden are also suing Live Nation and Barclays Center for “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices” for advertising that the concert would begin at 8:30 p.m. knowing that Madonna would not begin performing at the advertised start time, CBS reports.
Fellows and Hadden contend they were “damaged as a direct and proximate result” due to the late start time and are seeking a trial by jury, WPIX reports.
They’re suing for unspecified damages.
