Madonna Fans Sue After Singer’s Late Arrival in DC
WASHINGTON — Three Madonna fans are suing the singer for her late arrival and quality of her performance in December in Washington, D.C.
The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeks class action certification.
If the court certifies the class action lawsuit, it would authorize a large number of Madonna concert ticket holders to sue for money damages.
The plaintiffs say they were “deceived” when they were told the concert at Capital One Arena would begin at 8:30 p.m. but instead started at 10:30 p.m.
In addition, Madonna lip synched many of the songs and the concert hall “maintain[ed] a hot and uncomfortable temperature,” the lawsuit says. Madonna had two concerts in Washington in December for her Celebration Tour.
The lawsuit filed last week is the second time the singer has been sued in recent months. Last year, she was sued in New York after her arrival more than two hours late to a concert in Brooklyn.
The D.C. plaintiffs said the late start meant they “had to leave the concerts early prior to the concerts’ conclusion, therefore depriving each of them of the benefit of seeing the complete concert.”
At the Dec. 18 performance, the lawsuit says Madonna arrived on stage to tell the crowd, “I am sorry I am late… no, I am not sorry, it’s who I am… I’m always late.”
The lawsuit describes her attitude as “arrogant and total disrespect” for ticket holders. “In essence, Madonna and Live Nation are a consumer’s worst nightmare,” the lawsuit says.
One of the plaintiffs, Elizabeth Halper-Asefi, said she spent $992.76 on tickets from StubHub. Another plaintiff, Mary Conoboy, spent $537.70 on two tickets from Ticketmaster. The third, Nestor Monte, Jr., spent $252.44 for two tickets, also from Ticketmaster.
“There have been myriad articles in the media and the internet over the years of fans complaining about Madonna not taking the stage for several hours after the advertised start time of her concerts,” the complaint says. “Unfortunately, not all people who rely on advertising for the concerts know this.”
The lawsuit claims damages for deceptive trade practices, breach of contract and misrepresentation.
In the similar lawsuit in Brooklyn, Madonna’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss. They claimed the two plaintiffs could not prove they suffered any damages.
They argued that the difficulty ticket holders’ had to “get up early to go to work” after the concert ended at 1 a.m. was not an “injury” that Madonna should compensate.
They also said “nowhere” did the ticket say Madonna would start the show at 8.30 p.m.
“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,” the defense attorneys’ motion for dismissal argued.
The Brooklyn case still is pending.
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