The strangest music-related lawsuit of the year continued to play out in court on April 4, as lawyers for Madonna filed to dismiss a class action suit seeking damages for a late-starting Brooklyn date on her ongoing Celebration tour.
The suit, filed in January by two fans, accused the star of "false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices" as a result of the two-hour delay in the start of her show at Barclays Center on December 13. In the filing, Madonna's attorneys argued that a late-starting concert does not constitute "a cognizable injury" to the fans.
Madonna's late-starting Brooklyn show lead to one of the year's oddest lawsuits.
The two ticketholders at the center of the suit, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, claimed that the 2-hour delay — a 10:30 pm start instead of the scheduled 8:30 pm start — was enough to cause real harm. "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," attorneys for the two men wrote.
The suit also claimed that Madonna's following two shows at Barclays also started late, and cited injury based on, among other things, the fact that they both "had to get up early" to make it to work the next day.
In this week's filing, Madonna's lawyers zeroed in on that claim, writing: “Plaintiffs speculate that ticketholders who left the venue after 1 a.m. might have had trouble getting a ride home or might have needed to wake up early the next day for work. That is not a cognizable injury.”
Madonna's North American Celebration tour ends later this month in Mexico City.
Doing some digging on social media, the star's attorneys also claimed that one of the plaintiffs raved about the concert on Facebook, which proves, they claim, that "the concert met or exceeded his expectations.”
“Plaintiffs do not allege Madonna’s performance was subpar," the filing continues, "that her performance was worth less than what they paid, or that they left the concert before watching her entire performance. Indeed, plaintiffs do not plead any injury that they themselves suffered by spending the night at an ‘incredible’ concert.”
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While this lawsuit may seem to veer toward the ridiculous, it's hardly the only time Madonna's tour has made headlines since it finally kicked off late last year. On March 4 in Los Angeles, she took a moment to address the "near-death experience" that lead to the tour's postponement, detailing her difficult recovery from an infection that landed her in a medically-induced come last summer. She's also had plenty of famous faces join her onstage, from a duet with Kylie Minogue to the rotating cast of celebrity "judges" who have joined for the performance of "Vogue," including Eric Andre, FKA Twigs, Stella McCartney, Donatella Versace and onetime Madonna biopic star Julia Garner.
The North American tour will conclude with five nights at Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes from April 20-26.
Check out Q's tribute to the Material Girl's 40-year career: "Madonna's Immaculate Ambition."
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