Madonna Pushes Back Against Lawsuits From Fans Over Concert Start Time
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 16: Madonna performs onstage during her "Rebel Heart" tour at Madison Square Garden on September 16, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Madonna is speaking out once again against the lawsuit filed against her after a late start to one of her recent concerts.
Concertgoers said the delay was a "wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation and unfair and deceptive trade practices," according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, but the superstar's lawyers are calling it unreasonable for true fans of hers to expect her to be punctual.
"No reasonable concertgoer - and certainly no Madonna fan - would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time," they countered, asserting that "fans got just what they paid for: a full-length, high quality show by the Queen of Pop."
As Parade previously reported, concertgoers Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden filed suit against the singer after her NYC-area Celebration Tour concert started several hours later than advertised, arguing that the singer, Live Nation and the Barclays Center all failed to warn fans of the delay when they should have and pointed out that Madonna has a history of starting concerts late.
The filing asserted that, as a result, audience members were "left stranded in the middle of the night... with limited public transportation," and "had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day."
At the time, Madonna said the "allegations" were "illogical and self-contradictory," suggesting the two "fail[ed] to state a claim" in their lawsuit.
The "Material Girl" singer requested a judge to dismiss the case then, too, suggesting they couldn't have been misled by anything written on their ticket prior to buying them, seeing as the tickets were not transferred to them until after payment, and said the plaintiffs failed to "allege any other allegedly false advertising that they purport to have relied upon in deciding to purchase their tickets. This alone requires dismissal of the Complaint in its entirety." At the time, no judgment had been made.
Next: Madonna Fan in Wheelchair Speaks Out After Singer Questioned Her for Sitting at Concert