Fans sue Madonna, Live Nation over New York concert starting 2 hours late

Two Madonna fans didn't have all night to get "Into the Groove" with the pop icon, and now they’re suing the singer after she allegedly started her concert over two hours late.

New York residents Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden brought the class action lawsuit against Madonna, Live Nation and Barclays Center, according to documents filed Wednesday in a Brooklyn federal court and obtained by USA TODAY Friday.

The superstar's Dec. 13 Celebration Tour concert was set to begin at 8:30 p.m., but Madonna, 65, did not take the stage until after 10:45 p.m., according to the lawsuit. Because of the late start, the concertgoers said they were "confronted with limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs" when the show let out at 1 a.m.

USA TODAY has reached out to Live Nation, Barclays Center and Madonna's reps for comment.

The fans say the show letting out late also caused further inconvenience as "they had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day."

The pair argue that because Madonna did not begin her concert at the advertised start time, the actions by the parties constituted a "breach of contracts" as well as "false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices."

The concertgoers are seeking unspecified damages.

USA TODAY's Melissa Ruggieri attended the Dec. 13 show, the first of three sold-out shows at the venue as part of her North American tour sprint through April. She noted the "Live a Virgin" singer characteristically started late at 10:50 on that night, "but forgiveness is quick among Madonna devotees, a colorful crowd dotted with feather boas, sequins and corsets who packed the venue to the rafters."

Fans have long experienced Madonna's aversion to punctuality on previous tours, with a similar class action lawsuit brought in 2019 after a Miami concert started two hours late.

Live Nation has come under fire in recent years following a massive crowd surge at Travis Scott's 2021 Astroworld festival that left 10 people dead. The largest live music promoter in the world has been fined or sued for other issues ranging from unruly crowds to equipment failures at various venues and concerts in the past decade or so.

Ticket marketplace Ticketmaster has also drawn the ire of concert fans, following the Taylor Swift Eras Tour fiasco that saw the operator cancel a scheduled general public ticket sale for her tour after "extraordinarily high demands."

Contributing: Kevin McCoy, Melissa Ruggieri and Hannah Yasharoff