Madonna's Lawyers Respond To Late Concert Lawsuit: 'Wake Up Early' Is Not A Legal 'Injury'

Madonna’s lawyers have responded to a lawsuit against her for starting a concert late after promising to “vigorously” defend her case.

Earlier this year, punters Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden sued the Like A Virgin singer, Live Nation and Brooklyn venue Barclays Centre for alleged “false advertising”. They claimed legal harm as they “had to get up early to go to work” after attending a Madonna concert that started after 10:30 pm.

Due to the late finishing times – the show didn’t finish until after 1 am – the pair claimed that they and other concertgoers were “stranded” and “confronted with limited public transportation” options, with rideshare vehicle drivers charging surged prices at that time of night.

The concert (13 December 2023) took place on a Wednesday night, so the lawsuit notes that they “had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day.”

Madonna’s lawyers have now issued a statement about the lawsuit, claiming that having to “wake up early” isn’t the kind of “injury” that should result in legal action (via Billboard).

The statement continued, “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. That is not a cognizable injury.”

Her lawyers added that “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” and that reasonable ticketholders “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.”

Fellows and Hadden’s attorney, Marcus Corwin, said the lawsuit isn’t about staying up late and waking up early. Instead, Corwin argued that the lawsuit is about the “thousands of fans” who left early to access their vehicles from car parks or to take public transportation before it ended for the night.

You can read the Billboard report here.

In other Madonna news, the singer brought Kylie Minogue on stage last month to celebrate International Women’s Day. They performed Gloria Gaynor’s empowering disco anthem, I Will Survive, and Kylie Minogue’s classic Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.

“It’s a privilege for me to be up here, singing with you. You are a fighter, too; God bless you. Never give up; we never do,” Madonna said while holding Kylie’s hand.

After telling the audience she felt “amazing” on stage with her idol, Minogue added, “This moment has been a long, long, long, long time coming.”