In what could be termed an interesting legal suit, two fans filed a case against American singer Madonna over what they described as “false advertising”, after attending a concert by the Holiday singer in December 2023.
The plaintiffs, who attended the singer’s ‘Celebration Tour’ last year, claim the show started “too late,” hence their decision to proceed to court. It is not clear when the case was filed or the exact relief sought from the court.
However, lawyers of the celebrated star, according to reports, have asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit in a motion filed this week.
The Madonna Celebration Tour started on October 14, 2024, with the singer scheduled to visit North America, Europe and South America. The tour, which celebrates Madonna’s four decade–long recording career, is expected to end on May 4, 2024, with a free concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
According to the plaintiff ticketholders who left the concert venue at Barclays Center in Brooklyn after 1 a.m. in December last year “might have had trouble getting a ride home or might have needed to wake up early the next day for work.”
Related stories
But Modonna’s lawyers said the petitioners did not suffer any “cognizable injury” at the concert. The defence indicate that at all the shows in question, Madonna took the stage at 10:50 PM the first night and 10:20 PM the second two nights, as the singer had attributed the delay to “sound check issues.”
The defendants added that there was no advertisement that Madonna would take the stage at 8.30 p.m., and that “no reasonable concertgoer would expect the headline act [Madonna] at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time.”
“Rather, a reasonable concertgoer would understand that the venue’s doors will open at or before the ticketed time, one or more opening acts may perform while attendees arrive and make their way to their seats and before the headline act takes the stage, and the headline act will take the stage later in the evening,” the lawyers noted.
The lawyers again noted that the “plaintiffs do not allege Madonna’s performance was worth less than what they paid [for], or that they left the concert before watching her entire performance.”
They went on to quote one of the plaintiffs, who described Madonna’s show in a Facebook post in December as an “incredible” concert.
