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Madonna is being sued by two fans who are hung up on the late start to her concert in New York City last month.
Michael Fellows of Brooklyn and Jonathan Hadden of the Bronx filed a lawsuit against the “Material Girl” singer in Brooklyn federal court, alleging that they were not informed that the Dec. 13 show on her “Celebration Tour” would start later than the 8:30 p.m. scheduled time.
According to the suit, which is seeking class action status, the 65-year-old pop star took the stage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn between 10:45 and 11 p.m., and the performance lasted past 1 a.m.
Concertgoers struggled with limited and more expensive transportation options leaving the venue after the show, the lawsuit alleges, adding that many people who went to see Madonna perform on a weeknight — as Hadden and Fellows did — “had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day.”
Had they known the concerts would start and end so late, they would not have paid for their tickets, the lawsuit said. (Fellows paid $155.90 for one ticket, and Hadden paid $292.50 for two, according to the suit.)
The defendants — including Live Nation, the organizer, and the Barclays Center — “engaged in unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices by offering to the public Concerts that were promised to begin at 8:30 p.m., knowing that Madonna would most certainly not take the stage at the advertised start time,” the lawsuit stated. (NBC News reached out to the defendants on Thursday and did not receive a response.)
Hadden and Fellows allege that Madonna’s late concert starts are part of a pattern, citing similarly late start times in her past tours. Madonna was sued by a fan for starting her concert later than scheduled in 2019, too, though that lawsuit was quickly dropped, ABC News reported. Another lawsuit in 2020 — also in New York, also over a two-hour delay — was settled and voluntarily dismissed.
The pop star had postponed the start of her “Celebration Tour” from June to October due to a bacterial infection. Tickets sold out quickly upon release, and current verified resale tickets for her concert at Madison Square Garden cost upward of $199 on Ticketmaster.