Madonna and Live Nation are responding to a new lawsuit filed by two concertgoers infuriated after they claimed the Queen of Pop began her concerts in Brooklyn more than two hours late.
"Madonna's just completed, sold out 2023 Celebration Tour in Europe received rave reviews," Madonna Management and Live Nation's joint statement to ET began. "The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue December 13th during soundcheck. This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously."
Two concertgoers -- Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden -- filed the lawsuit after they claimed Madge started the Dec. 13 concert at Barclays Center two hours later. The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit earlier this month in the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York, went on to claim Madonna also started her Dec. 14 and Dec. 16 concerts more than two hours late, and that they were given no warning as to the concert's late start time. Madonna and Live Nation did not address those shows.
The plaintiffs claim the show was advertised to begin at 8:30 p.m. but Madonna did not hit the stage until "between 10:45 p.m. and 11 p.m." As a result, the concertgoers claim, the show did not end until after 1 a.m., causing them to encounter issues with "limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs."
That the concert ran so late on a weeknight also made it difficult for the plaintiffs "to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day" on fewer hours of sleep.
The plaintiffs in court documents accused The Material Girl, 65 -- as well as Live Nation and Barclays Center -- of engaging in "unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices."
Fellows and Hadden are seeking "damages, statutory damages, treble damages, exemplary damages, costs and attorneys’ fees," as well as a trial by jury.
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