Madonna’s Late Start Times at NYC ‘Celebration Tour’ Concerts Spark Class Action Lawsuit [DISMISSED]
Last Updated on July 2, 2024
Fellows et al. v. Ciccone et al.
Filed: January 17, 2024 ◆§ 1:24-cv-00357
New York City concertgoers have filed a class action lawsuit against Madonna after she started her shows last month two hours late.
Brooklyn Events Center, LLC Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. Madonna Louise Ciccone Live Nation MTours (USA), Inc.
New York
July 2, 2024 – Fans Drop Madonna Lawsuit as Defendants’ Counsel Decries ‘False’ Settlement Notice
The proposed class action lawsuit detailed on this page was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs on June 19, 2024.
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Notably, although the plaintiffs stated in their dismissal notice that each party was to bear their own attorney fees and costs, the defendants’ counsel, in a letter submitted to the court later that day, claimed the plaintiffs “unilaterally” declared that each party would cover their own legal expenses without warning them of this decision.
The defendants’ counsel made clear in their letter that Madonna, Live Nation and the Barclays Center do not agree with the plaintiffs’ position that each party should bear its own expenses, and asserted that they reserve the right to move for sanctions, attorneys’ fees and costs.
“Defendants believe that this action was a frivolous strike suit designed to force them to incur legal expenses,” Jeff Warshafsky, one of the defendants’ attorneys, wrote. “Plaintiffs have now abandoned this lawsuit when it became clear that this approach would not result in a settlement payment and that they would need to oppose defendants’ motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint.”
Warshafsky emphasized in the letter that the plaintiffs’ dismissal was not the result of any settlement. Court documents reveal that the plaintiffs filed a notice on June 7 of this year in which they claimed the parties had reached an agreement to resolve the lawsuit. The notice was later struck after the court found their statement was false.
“The parties have not settled this matter,” Warshafsky stressed in a June 10 letter to the court.
The defendants’ attorney explained that although counsel for both parties discussed a possible resolution on May 29, 2024, no agreement was reached. Warshafsky claimed the plaintiffs’ representatives nevertheless sent over a draft settlement agreement and filed the false notice without waiting for a response from the defendants’ counsel.
“To be clear, defendants are not necessarily opposed to settlement if certain terms can be reached,” Warshafsky wrote. “But defendants will not be harassed into settlement and cannot abide false statements made to the court. The false notice is part and parcel of the harassment campaign that plaintiffs’ counsel has been waging against defendants over the last several months in hopes of extorting a lucrative settlement by forcing defendants to incur unnecessary legal fees.”
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New York City concertgoers have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Madonna, Live Nation and the Barclays Center after the “Queen of Pop” started her shows last month two hours late.
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According to the 18-page lawsuit, Madonna’s Celebration Tour concerts at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn were scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. on December 13, 14 and 16, but the singer didn’t take the stage until after 10:30 p.m. on all three nights.
The plaintiffs—two New York residents who attended the December 13 show—say the defendants failed to warn them that the concert would start much later than advertised, and would not have bought tickets had they known they wouldn’t be leaving the venue until after 1:00 a.m.
Leaving at that late hour meant that most attendees had to deal with limited options for public transportation and ride-sharing, the complaint notes.
“In addition, 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,” the suit says.
The case notes that Madonna has a “long history” of starting concerts late, pointing out that concerts for her 2016 Rebel Heart Tour, 2019-2020 Madame X Tour and shows for prior tours “continuously” began over two hours after their scheduled start times.
“By the time of the [NYC] concerts’ announcements, Madonna had demonstrated flippant difficulty in ensuring a timely or complete performance, and Defendants were aware that any statement as to a start time for a show constituted, at best, optimistic speculation,” the complaint contends.
As such, the lawsuit accuses Madonna, Live Nation and the Barclays Center of “false advertising” and “negligent misrepresentation” since the defendants allegedly knew the pop star “would most certainly not” take the stage at 8:30 p.m.
In fact, the filing says, New York wasn’t the only city kept waiting for Madonna’s show to begin. Celebration Tour shows later that month in Boston and Washington D.C. also saw several-hour delays, the suit relays.
The plaintiffs claim Madonna’s tardiness caused them “annoyance, harassment, time, frustration, and anger,” and that the defendants should have offered concertgoers a refund for their tickets, which cost, on average, between $100 and $200.
The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased a ticket or became a ticketholder for Madonna’s Celebration Tour concerts at the Barclays Center through Ticketmaster, the venue’s box office or a ticket reseller.
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