Madonna Wants Lawsuit For Being Late To Brooklyn Concert To Be Tossed
By Afouda Bamidele on April 5, 2024 at 10:15 AM EDT
Madonna's legal team has finally responded to the two concertgoers who filed a lawsuit against her earlier this year over a delayed concert.
According to new documents, lawyers for the Queen of Pop and the two other defendants named in the lawsuit — Live Nation and Barclays Center — filed a motion to have the case thrown out of court.
Madonna's Lawyers Argue To Dismiss Concert Lateness Lawsuit
In the documents filed on April 3 in the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York, Madonna's legal reps argued that the two male concertgoers, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, had no tangible case against the singer.
They shut down their claims of transportation issues as speculations and noted that it wasn't enough to demand compensation for the "Material Girl" hitmaker. Her attorneys' argument read:
"Plaintiffs speculate that ticket holders who left the venue after 1 a.m. might have had trouble getting a ride home or might have needed to wake up early the next day for work. That is not a cognizable injury."
Madonna's legal team, per ET, further stressed that the concertgoers' claim to "get up early to go to work" is not a legal "injury" one can sue over. Additionally, they bashed the delayed concert allegations as unreasonable.
Madonna's Lawyers Slammed The Delayed Concert Claims
According to the singer's lawyers, concertgoers should never predict the start and end times of shows regardless of what is printed on the event tickets. In their words:
"Reasonable concertgoers also know that concert lengths vary based on numerous factors."
They also called out one of the plaintiffs, Jonathan Hadden, for singing a different tune in his lawsuit after praising Madonna's performance in Brooklyn. In a Facebook post dated December 14, 2023, he wrote:
"Caught her North American tour opener last night! An homage to NYC! Incredible, as always! I've never missed a Madonna Tour."
"In other words, the concert met or exceeded his expectations," the Queen of Pop's lawyers stressed in the document.
The Grammy Winner Was Sued For 'False Advertising'
The legal drama between Madonna and the two concertgoers began amid her Celebration World Tour. In January, Hadden and Fellows sued the 65-year-old singer, claiming her December 13 Brooklyn performance allegedly began two hours late.
She was slammed alongside Live Nation and Barclays Center for "false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices" in the lawsuit.
The displeased fans noted their respective tickets had stated the concert would begin at 8:30 p.m. However, Madonna was over two hours late and arrived after 10:30 p.m. without notice of a delay from her or the showrunners.
As a result, the concertgoers were forced to wait for hours and struggled with limited transportation plus increased fees after the show concluded after 1 a.m.
Hadden and Fellows claimed Madonna's tardiness was unfair to all concertgoers since she was allegedly late to other shows.
The Displeased Concertgoers Demanded Compensation
Hadden and Fellows claimed that if they knew Madonna would be late for the December concert, they wouldn't have purchased tickets. They also argued that she and the other defendants would be unjustly reaping profits for a false advertisement.
The aggrieved concertgoers requested the court to address their grievances in a jury trial. As for their demands, they asked for actual and consequential damages for Madonna's actions alongside whatever pre-and post-judgment interest permitted by law.
Additionally, they requested the court to grant them any other compensation deemed necessary to their case. Surprisingly, this isn't the only issue that has occurred during Madonna's Celebration Tour.
Fans Bashed Madonna For Singling Out A Concertgoer In Wheelchair
Last month, the 65-year-old songstress got on the internet's bad side after a video of her performance at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles went viral. In the clip, she singled out a fan for sitting while others were cheering.
"What are you doing sitting down over there? What are you getting sitting down?" Madonna asked before realizing the other party was in a wheelchair. "Oh, OK. Politically incorrect. Sorry about that. I'm glad you are here," she quickly apologized.
Despite her apology, many criticized the singer's actions. "Maam, there are 100 reasons why someone might sit- and all of them are valid," someone argued, while another stressed that Madonna "didn't apologize well enough."
"She was too quick to judge but too slow to say sorry? That apology ain't cutting it for me," a third declared, adding that Madonna would "have to do better than that."
