Madonna fired back at fans who sued her for being late to her concert, saying they got exactly “what they paid for” and that no true fan could expect the Queen of Pop to perform on time, so court documents showed.
Concertgoers Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden accused pop icon and concert organizer Live Nation of false advertising after the 65-year-old singer was three hours late for her set at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on December 13.
The lawsuit filed in January claims the late start constitutes a “deliberate exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation and unfair and deceptive business practices.”
Court documents obtained by DailyMail.com show that lawyers for the Material Girl filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Wednesday, arguing that it was illogical to expect her to start the show on time.
“No reasonable concertgoer — and certainly not a Madonna fan — would expect the headline act of a concert in a major arena to take the stage at the time the ticket is reserved,” the filing said.
“Fans got exactly what they paid for: a full, high-quality show from the Queen of Pop.”
Madonna fired back at fans who sued her for being late to her concert, saying they got exactly ‘what they paid for’
Concertgoers Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden (photo) accused pop icon and concert organizer Live Nation of false advertising
Her attorney also referenced a Facebook post from Hadden from the day after the concert, in which he shared a photo of the tour poster and said, “Caught her North American tour opener last night! A tribute to New York! Incredible, as always! I’ve never missed a Madonna Tour!’
“In other words, the concert met or exceeded his expectations,” the filing said.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that it was false advertising that they suffered damages because the concert did not start at the time stated on the ticket.
They said that because the show started much later than expected, ticket holders were at risk due to “limited public transport, limited number of trips and/or higher costs for public and private transport at that late hour.”
“In addition, many ticket holders who attended concerts on a weekday evening had to wake up early the next day to go to work and/or fulfill their family responsibilities,” the lawsuit said.
Madonna’s team argued that they couldn’t substantiate that, saying that ticket holders having to stay up late and get up early the next day “is not a discernible injury.”
The complaint itself admits that Madonna fans, like Mr. Hadden, would not expect Madonna to appear on stage at the stated time of 8:30 p.m., claiming that she has a “year-long history” of “arriving several hours late at an arranged time’. concerts” such that “plaintiffs knew or should have known that the concerts would not begin at 8:30 p.m.,” the filing said.
“Reasonable concertgoers also know that concert lengths vary based on many factors, such as the duration of the opening act and the artist’s set list for that evening. So they wouldn’t reasonably expect the evening to end at 10.30pm unless an advertisement or ticket says so – and that didn’t happen here.’
Lawyers for the Material Girl said no true Madonna fan would expect her to start her concert on time
Madonna’s lawyers say the damages the plaintiffs are claiming, such as having to get up early the next day, are ‘not recognizable’
It was explained that the delay was due to technical problems and that the show had only been postponed by an hour
Prosecutors acknowledge that Madonna had health problems – she suffered a life-threatening bacterial infection last year – which caused the original concert dates to be postponed from July to December – but do not see that as an excuse for the delays that evening.
Despite the delay, she put on a very raunchy show and wowed her fans as she performed her 45-song setlist, which highlighted her record-breaking 40-year career.
It was later explained that the delay was due to technical issues and had only been pushed back an hour when the opening act, DJ Honey Dijon, took the stage at 8:30 PM.
The Queen of Pop finally took the stage and started her show at 10:45 p.m
However, many fans of the music icon took to social media to complain about the wait for the Material Girl hitmaker to start her show.
One
‘The concert was supposed to start at 8:30 p.m. Madonna started at 11 p.m. The whole arena is singing bulls*** because of her late arrival. Great show but went way too late,” someone else wrote, adding that DJ Honey Dijon opened the show with “boring house music.”
‘2.30 late. I WANT A REFUND NOW,” another X user demanded.
“I love Madonna but it really sucks that she’s literally two hours late for her FIRST show in the US,” another tweeted.