False advertising allegations

Iconic pop star Madonna is facing a lawsuit from two ticket sellers, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, who are seeking damages for failing to show up for her recent “Celebration Tour” concert in Brooklyn, New York, on time.

Specifically, the singer started the concert after 10:30 p.m. on all three nights, while the promotional poster clearly stated that the show started at 8:30 p.m., two hours earlier.

The majority of concertgoers then had to leave at 1 a.m. each night, causing them many difficulties such as not being able to travel by public transport, having difficulty finding people to share taxi rides with, or being forced to pay extra for services at that time. Many fans affirmed that they would not have bought tickets if they had known about the significant delay.

In the lawsuit against Madonna and the show’s organizers, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadde argued that the main reason for the delay was “false advertising, misrepresentation and deceptive commercial practices.” 

“Queen of Pop” Madonna 

Historical pattern of delay

In fact, this is not the first time that the “queen of pop” Madonna has been late. Court papers point to Madonna’s history of being late to previous concerts, citing cases from the 2016 Rebel Heart Tour, the 2019 – 2020 Madame X Tour.

In 2019, during her Madame X tour, the singer was similarly sued for starting her show at 10:30 p.m. Nate Hollander, who attended Madonna’s Madame X concert in Miami in December 2019, alleged that Madonna had changed the scheduled start time of her show from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., which was a breach of contract between the singer and the ticket buyer.

Hollander later tried to get a refund for three tickets to the show but was unsuccessful.

According to the plaintiffs, Madonna’s repeated behavior was not communicated to ticket holders in advance, causing them to wait for hours. Fellows and Hadden are now seeking unspecified damages for inconvenience and frustration caused by the delayed show. Madonna has yet to officially respond to the lawsuit.

Pop icon Madonna’s delay has been heavily criticized by the public.

“Queen” can be late?

Back in 2019, after arriving late on stage in Las Vegas, the star declared: “Here’s what you all need to understand, a queen is never late.” Madonna’s response at that time made all her fans angry, because they felt disrespected by their idol.

And now, as the legal proceedings of the lawsuit from Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden are underway, fans are beginning to question whether the legendary status of the “Queen of Pop” is a basis for the singer to allow herself to ignore the principles of time compliance?