Madonna fans drop lawsuit over singer's lateness
Two Madonna fans have dropped their lawsuit against the singer for being late on stage when she performed in Brooklyn in December.
Two Madonna fans have dropped their lawsuit against the singer for being late on stage.
In January, Michael Fellows and Jason Alvarez filed a class action case against the 'Hung Up' singer 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, but now they have voluntarily dismissed their suit with prejudice.
While such an action often indicates a settlement has been reached by the parties, sources told TMZ no agreement had been reached between Madonna and the plaintiffs, but the men dismissed the lawsuit of their own accord.
The update comes a few weeks after Madonna filed to have the case dismissed, arguing fans know she always starts her show well after the ticketed time.
Court documents argued: "If a fan is familiar enough with Madonna's concert history to know her performances run for two hours and fifteen minutes, that fan would surely know that Madonna typically takes the stage well after the ticketed event time (after an opening act, set transition, and so on) and plays late into the night."
Her attorneys had previously 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."
Lawyers had also argued 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."
