Madonna's lawyers ask for concert lawsuit to be dismissed
Lawyers representing Madonna have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from two concert-goers who sued the pop superstar and promoters Live Nation over the delayed start time to her gig Brooklyn, New York in December.
Madonna's lawyers have moved to dismiss a lawsuit from two concert-goers who sued the pop superstar for being late on stage.
Disgruntled fans Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden filed a lawsuit against Madonna and promoters Live Nation after the singer was two hours late starting her 'Celebration' show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on December 13 - arguing they would not have bought tickets if they had known the event would not start until 10.30pm.
Now PEOPLE reports attorneys representing the singer and Live Nation have filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.
In the paperwork, which was filed this week, the lawyers argue against the disgruntled gig-goers' claims that leaving the gig venue at 1am left them with "limited public transportation" options and increased costs as well as shortened amounts of sleep before they had to "get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day".
The attorneys countered: "Plaintiffs speculate that ticketholders who left the venue after 1 am 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 cognisable injury."
They also argued that the concert was never advertised to start at 8.30pm, adding: "Nowhere did Defendants advertise that Madonna would take the stage at 8.30 p.m., and no reasonable concertgoer - and certainly no Madonna fan - would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time.
"Rather, a reasonable concertgoer would understand that the venue’s doors will open at or before the ticketed time, one or more opening acts may perform while attendees arrive and make their way to their seats and before the headline act takes the stage, and the headline act will take the stage later in the evening."
Marcus Corwin, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, confirmed to PEOPLE a response to the motion will be filed within 30 days, adding: "We believe our response will address the issues raised in the MTD [motion to dismiss] and that when the Court is fully briefed, we will be able to proceed with this action and obtain compensation for those ticket holders seeking refunds."
