Madonna asks court to dismiss lawsuit over late concert start times

NME

Madonna’s lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed against her on the grounds of late concert start times.

• READ MORE: Madonna live in London: pop queen grapples with her legacy

In January, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, two fans who bought tickets to the December 13 date of Madonna’s ‘Celebration’ tour at the Barclays Center, filed a lawsuit against Madonna for starting the concert more than two hours past the stipulated 8:30PM start time.

The lawsuit accused her of not only breaching contracts with ticket buyers, but also of “false advertising, negligent representation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices”.

In the new filing, Madonna’s representatives have written: “Plaintiffs speculate that ticketholders who left the venue after 1am 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.”

The motion also states that one of the plaintiffs, Jonathan Hadden, “raved” about the show in a social media post, calling it “incredible as always!”

In response to the original suit, Madonna’s representatives and Live Nation issued a joint statement, expressing their intentions to “defend this case vigorously”. Per Billboard, the parties attributed the delay to a technical difficulty experienced during the soundcheck for the December 13 date.

“The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue December 13th during soundcheck,” the statement read. “This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously.”

The statement also stated that the tour’s recent European leg had “received rave reviews”, though The Guardian highlighted that several of Madonna’s concerts at London’s O2 Arena were “delayed or cut short” due to technical difficulties.

In the original complaint, Fellows’ and Hadden’s lawyers claimed that as the 8:30PM start time listed on the tickets for the December 13, 14 and 16 concerts was “material to Plaintiffs’ agreement to purchase” them, her lateness resulted in legal damage for those who “had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day”.

The complaint also detailed that the concerts’ 1AM conclusion left concertgoers facing “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs” after the show, with some even left “stranded in the middle of the night”.

Fellows’ and Hadden’s lawyers also invoked New York state’s General Business Law 149 in claiming that Madonna’s late start times were violating state laws. They claimed that the inaccurate representation of the concert’s advertised start time, alongside the failure to “provide notice to Plaintiffs and all Class Members that the concert would not start at 8:30PM” or provide them “the option of receiving a refund” all translated to the violation of the law.

Madonna, meanwhile, has announced details of her biggest show ever, a free gig to be held at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on May 4. It will be Madge’s first show in Brazil since 2012.

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