Madonna was hospitalized in New York last June for a bacterial infection so severe she was in the ICU and put in an induced coma for 48 hours. Thankfully she recovered and was discharged to continue recuperating at home. But the health emergency meant that she couldn’t kick off her Celebration Tour in mid-July. Instead she assured her fans (and Live Nation) that she would be back on track with the European leg of the tour by October. The US leg began in December when she played the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and it was heralded as a triumphant return to New York… when it finally got started more than two hours late. We don’t know if the delay was due to health, technical, or other reasons, but two attendees were not happy about it and have now filed a lawsuit against Her Madgesty:
Two Madonna fans filed a federal lawsuit against the Material Girl for starting her concert several hours late, claiming they had to wake up early for work the next day.
Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden wanted to get into the groove and purchased tickets for Madonna’s Dec. 13 concert at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
According to the lawsuit, the tickets for the “Celebration” tour show stated the performance would start at 8:30 p.m. However, Madonna did not take the stage until some time after 10:45 p.m., a habit that appears to be en vogue for the pop superstar.
The men claim that by the time they left the venue at 1 a.m., they were “stranded” due to limited public transportation options and had to pay more to order a ride-share, which was also experiencing surge pricing due to demand. The concert was held on a Wednesday, and the men are hung up over the fact that they “had to get up early to work” the next day.
Fellows and Hadden are suing Madonna and Live Nation for “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices,” claiming a breach of contract. Barclays Center is also listed as a defendant.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, seeks class action status, alleging the 65-year-old popstar has a “years-long history” of starting concerts late, including at other “Celebration” tour stops.
I am not a lawyer, but I did play one on my high school’s mock trial team, and I fear the aggrieved concertgoers have said too much in this statement. The show starting two hours and fifteen minutes late is an undisputed fact (you better believe it was noted in real time on the interwebs). I would think that’s enough of a case right there. I don’t see how these gentlemen sharing that they had to wake up early the next day is strictly relevant — they bought tickets for a nighttime concert knowing they had work in the morning. That bit isn’t Madge’s fault. And calling attention to the fact that she’s (allegedly) notorious for starting late — doesn’t that just establish that they should have expected or at least anticipated that this would happen? It just feels like they’re undercutting themselves right from the get, when again, all you have to say is an 8:30pm concert didn’t begin until 10:45pm.
What kills me as a New Yorker, though, is the argument that they were “stranded!” at Barclays Center. Barclays sits atop perhaps the largest subway station in Brooklyn, if not the whole city. It’s a huge thoroughfare, above and below ground. There are 11 subway lines! Yes, after midnight the frequency of trains is somewhat reduced. But we’re talking about the city that never sleeps! I can personally vouch for being on the subway at that hour, multiple times. If they had to catch transportation like PATH or LIRR out of the city, then the late hour would have been a bigger problem. But if they had to go that far out, a ride-share would have been outrageously expensive anyway, before surge pricing. Aren’t we supposed to factor these logistics into the cost and planning for a night out? Or should I be spending more money on lawyers to get some money back on transit?
Finally, let us not forget that Madonna used to charge her backup dancers $100 a minute for being late to rehearsals. Oh the delicious karma of it all.
photos credit: Backgrid, Getty and via Instagram
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