Madonna’s management team and the concert promoter Live Nation have said it will “vigorously” defend a lawsuit stating that the star harmed fans with a late start to the New York City concerts of her Celebration tour, Billboard reports.
Last week, two fans proposed a class action lawsuit against the pop star, 65, for allegedly starting her three shows at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn two hours later than planned, which they claim breached her contract with concertgoers who “had to get up early to go to work” the next day.
“Defendants’ actions constitute not just a breach of their contracts … but also a wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices,” wrote lawyers for Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden.
In a joint statement, representatives for Madonna and Live Nation said: “The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue 13 December during soundcheck. This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously.”
Their response noted that the opening leg of the tour in Europe had “received rave reviews”. Several of the shows at the O2 Arena in London were delayed or cut short as a result of reported technical issues.
In Fellows and Hadden’s original suit, which also named the venue as a defendant, they stated that they expected the concert they attended on 13 December to start at 8.30pm and “would not have paid for their tickets had they known that the concerts would start after 10.30pm”.
They accused the three defendants of “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices” for the delayed start time, which the pair argues constitutes a breach of contract and “a wanton exercise in false advertising”.
“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,” their suit continued, suggesting that alleged historical lateness by Madonna meant that the organisers “knew or should have known” about a possible delay, and warned fans.
The men claimed that some ticket holders were left stranded when the concert ended at 1am, with “limited public transportation options” and increased prices for car services, and said that the weeknight concert meant they “had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day”.
