It is a commonly acknowledged fact that live performances of any kind do not always begin at the scheduled hour. Perhaps the artists are simply having fun backstage, going through a bowl of M&Ms to make sure the correct hue has been eliminated, or perhaps they are intentionally keeping the audience on the edge of their seats to raise anticipation. However, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, two fans, chose to sue Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center for “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices” after the singer took the stage at 10:30 for a show in New York in December that was meant to begin two hours earlier.
This information comes from Variety, which claims that the pair also cites late start times for Madonna’s 2016 and 2019–2020 tours, along with her other shows at the Barclays Center from last month. They argue that this is all part of a “long history of arriving and starting her concerts late,” which is what they refer to as a “wanton exercise in false advertising.” The fans also report that following the show, they discovered “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs” as a result of the concert’s late start and late finish. Now, the couple is attempting to turn this into a class-action lawsuit due to this purported history of “negligent misrepresentation” regarding Madonna’s concerts.
Madonna and her team have not yet responded to Variety’s report, but it’s important to remember that she just said that her recent tour schedule would be temporarily suspended due to a “strange bacterial infection” that nearly killed her over the summer. During a performance in New York’s Barclays Center, Madonna expressed to the audience that it was a “fucking miracle” that she was able to resume performing.
