Two fans who sued Madonna over a late concert start have voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit.
Michael Fellows and Jason Alvarez filed a class action lawsuit in January against Madonna, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and tour promoters Live Nation.
They claimed they were misled into buying tickets for her Celebrations tour, only to have Madonna take the stage at 10:30 PM on December 13, two hours later than expected.
The plaintiffs argued the late start left them stranded with limited public transport options.
It also led to higher costs due to surge pricing on ride-share apps.
They also claimed performing late on a Wednesday left them with insufficient sleep.
This affected their work and family responsibilities the next day.
The lawsuit accused Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center of engaging in “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices.
It alleged a breach of contract and false advertising.
Madonna and Live Nation defended the delayed start, attributing it to technical issues.
Michael Fellows and Jason Alvarez sued after Madonna came on stage at 10.30pm at a concert in Brooklyn
They also argued fans familiar with Madonna’s concert history would know she typically starts her shows well after the ticketed time.
In court documents, Madonna’s lawyers said: “If a fan is familiar enough with Madonna’s concert history to know her performances run for two hours and fifteen minutes, that fan would surely know that Madonna typically takes the stage well after the ticketed event time (after an opening act, set transition, and so on) and plays late into the night.”
They further argued her performance was never advertised to start at 8:30 PM
They said no reasonable concertgoer would expect the headline act to start at the exact ticketed time.
On Wednesday, June 19, Fellows and Alvarez dismissed their lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.
Jeff Warshafsky, attorney for Madonna and Live Nation, confirmed that the dismissal was not the result of any settlement.
This is not the first time Madonna has faced similar lawsuits.
In 2019, a Florida fan sued over her lateness on the Madame X tour, and in 2020, two New York concertgoers filed a similar suit.
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Both cases were voluntarily dismissed.
Recently, a man who attended her Celebration tour show in Los Angeles also filed a lawsuit.
He claimed it featured “pornography without warning” and started late at 10 PM.
Madonna has not publicly responded to this latest lawsuit.
Despite these legal issues, the Celebration tour was a critical and commercial success, with 80 dates and $225 million in ticket revenue.
It finished with a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for an estimated 1.6 million people.
