Two fans are suing Madonna for being hours late to her own shows

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By Asiya Ali

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Madonna has been sued by two fans for being more than two hours late for a concert in New York, according to court documents.

As reported by BBC News, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden are claiming that the 65-year-old 'Material Girl' singer didn't appear on stage at Brooklyn's Barclays Center until 10.45PM on December 13, 2023 - which is two hours and 15 minutes after the scheduled 8.30PM start time.

The concert was part of Madonna's Celebration Tour, celebrating her 40 years in music. The tour finally kicked off in the United Kingdom at the London O2 Arena last October after the singer postponed it due to contracting a serious bacterial infection in late June.

The lawsuit states that "many ticketholders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day".

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Madonna during The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena on October 15, 2023, in London, England. Credit: Kevin Mazur / Getty

Fellows and Hadden are suing promoter Live Nation and venue the Barclays Center for "false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices," per the outlet.

While the fans attended the show on December 13, they noted in the legal documents that the 14 and 16 December concerts also reportedly started more than two hours late.

"Defendants failed to provide any notice to the ticketholders that the concerts would start much later than the start time printed on the ticket and as advertised, which resulted in the ticketholders waiting for hours," the filing states.

The papers also alleged that the 'Hung Up' musician "has a long history of arriving and starting her concerts late, sometimes several hours late", citing examples including "her 2016 Rebel Heart Tour, her 2019-2020 Madame X Tour, and prior tours, where Madonna continuously started her concerts over two hours late".

The plaintiffs are suing for unspecified damages.

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Julia Garner and Madonna perform during The Celebration Tour at Barclays Center on December 14, 2023. Credit: Kevin Mazur / Getty

This is not the first lawsuit against the '4 Minutes' hitmaker as back in 2019, a Florida-based fan contended that the delayed Madame X shows was  a breach of contract.

In addition to this, two New Yorkers also sued the artist in February 2020 for keeping concertgoers waiting for over two hours at scheduled concerts in Brooklyn on the Madame X tour, per The Independent. Both lawsuits were later voluntarily dismissed.

The Grammy Award winner addressed the fan complaints about failing to start her shows on time in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) in November 2019.

In the short clip from a live show, Madonna can be heard telling fans: "There’s something that you all need to understand. And that is, that a queen is never late."

Featured image credit: Robert Gauthier / Getty