Madonna Concertgoers’ Lawsuit Over Show’s Late Start Time Dismissed Without a Settlement

A lawsuit against Madonna has been dismissed. Six months after Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden sued Madonna over her concert’s late start time, they decided to drop the case.

A source tells ET of the men’s decision, “There was no settlement and the plaintiffs decided to dismiss the frivolous lawsuit.”

According to court docs obtained by ET, Fellows and Hadden agreed to the “voluntary dismissal of this action with prejudice, with each party to bear its own fees and costs.” Court approval was not needed to get the lawsuit dropped, because it was “dismissed on an individual basis” before Fellows and Hadden “filed a Motion seeking class certification.”

The men filed their lawsuit back in January after attending the Brooklyn, New York, stop on Madonna’s Celebration Tour. In the lawsuit, the men claimed that the singer, as well as Live Nation and Barclays Center, lied about the show’s start time, thus engaging in “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices.”  

The two men, who claimed that Madonna had a “long history of arriving and starting her concerts late,” argued that the alleged delay resulted in the concert not ending until after 1 a.m., causing them to encounter issues with “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs.”

Fellows and Hadden also claimed that, since the concert occurred on a weeknight, they “had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day” on fewer hours of sleep due to the alleged delay.

Through her alleged lateness, the pair, who sought “damages, statutory damages, treble damages, exemplary damages, costs and attorneys’ fees,” claimed Madonna was facilitating an “exercise in false advertising” and “negligent misrepresentation.”

Madonna’s lawyers responded to the lawsuit in April by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

“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,” Madonna’s attorneys wrote. “That is not a cognizable injury.” 

The lawyers claimed that having to “get up early to go to work” is not a legal “injury” one can sue over. Additionally, the lawyers claimed that it is not “reasonable” for concertgoers to predict anticipated show start and end times, regardless of what is printed on the event tickets. 

While this lawsuit is now behind the singer, she is facing another legal action. Back in May, Justen Lipeles sued Madonna and four California concert venues, claiming that he and his 11-year-old sister were subjected to “pornography without warning,” such as “topless women on stage simulating sex acts” in an uncomfortable, sweltering environment.

Lipeles, who additionally alleged that the concert started late and that the singer lip-synced her performance, also claimed that Madonna demanded the air conditioning be turned off and he became physically ill in the heat.

Madonna, 65, kicked off her Celebration Tour in October 2023 amid delays as she recovered from a near-fatal viral infection. She took her final bow on May 4 in historic fashion as she broke the record for the largest audience for a standalone concert by any artist at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

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