Madonna being sued by fans for “wanton exercise in false advertising” after starting concerts late

When you attend a live performance of some kind, it’s generally accepted that the event will not necessarily start right at the time it’s supposed to. Maybe the performers are just enjoying their time backstage, picking through a bowl of M&Ms to make sure the right color has been removed, or maybe they want to keep the audience on their toes to build up their expectations. But after Madonna took the stage at 10:30 for a New York show in December that was supposed to start two hours earlier, a pair of fans named Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden decided to sue Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center for “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices.”

This comes from Variety, which says the duo also cites late start times for Madonna’s other shows at the Barclays Center last month, as well as late start times for her 2016 and 2019-2020 tours, claiming it’s part of a “long history of arriving and starting her concerts late” which constitutes a “wanton exercise in false advertising.” The fans also say that, due to the concert’s late start and late finish, they found “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs” after the show. Now, because of this alleged history of “negligent misrepresentation” about Madonna’s concerts, the duo is seeking to turn this into a class-action lawsuit.

Variety says that Madonna and her team have yet to respond to this, but it’s also worth noting that Madonna’s recent touring schedule was temporarily put on hold after what she called a “strange bacterial infection” that almost killed her over the summer. At one of those very Barclays Center shows in New York, Madonna told the crowd that it was a “fucking miracle” that she made it back to performing at all.