Two Madonna fans filed a federal lawsuit against the iconic performer on Wednesday, accusing her of showing up hours late at a show last month and needlessly inconveniencing concertgoers.
Fans Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden expressed themselves about the Material Girl's Dec. 13 show at Barclays Center when she didn't take the Brooklyn stage until after 10:45 p.m., according to the civil action filed in the Eastern District of New York.
The show was ticketed to get into the groove at 8:30 p.m., but the show's late start meant fans were ready for a bedtime story by the time they got out at almost 1 a.m.
That late finish left fans on the borderline of being stuck in Brooklyn with "limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing" options or "increased public and private transportation costs at that late hour," said the civil complaint written by attorneys Richard Klass and Marcus Corwin.
Dec. 13 last year was a Wednesday night, so fans who cherish weekday sleep were allegedly out of luck.
"In addition, many ticket holders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day," the plaintiffs said.
The lawsuit lists Madonna Louise Ciccone and various iterations of promoters at Live Nation and the Barclays Center as defendants.
Madonna's camp conceded that the Dec. 13 show was late due to a "technical issue."
“Madonna’s just completed, sold out 2023 Celebration Tour in Europe received rave reviews," according to a statement from Madonna's representatives. "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.”
Representatives for Live Nation and Barclays Center could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
These late starts appear to be in vogue for Madonna.
She played five shows in Boston, Toronto and Detroit this month with her taking the stage between 9:50 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., according to the Setlist.fm, a crowd-sourced site that keeps track of songs played and show times of major concerts.
SetList recorded Madonna's start time on Dec. 13 at 10:50 p.m. and she took the stage at 10:20 p.m. in her next two shows at Barclays.
The civil action did not name a dollar amount sought by plaintiffs.
Fellows, Hadden and other potential plaintiffs "suffered actual harm" because of Madonna's tardiness that include, but are "not limited" to, "annoyance, harassment, time, frustration and anger," according to the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs wouldn't have purchased tickets "had they known that the Concerts would start after 10:30 p.m. and end" after 1 a.m., forcing them to live to tell about an early morning in Brooklyn, the lawsuit claimed.
