The lawsuit accused her of not only breaching contracts with ticket buyers, but also of “false advertising, negligent representation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices”

ByEmma Wilkes11th June 2024Madoona. Credit: Pablo Porciuncula/Getty

Madonna‘s legal team has labelled the class action lawsuit against the singer for showing up late on stage as a “harassment campaign”.

More than one class action lawsuit has been filed over her late starts during her recent ‘Celebration’ 40th anniversary tour. In January, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, two fans who bought tickets to the December 13 date of Madonna’s ‘Celebration’ shows at the Barclays Center, filed a lawsuit against Madonna in New York for starting the concert more than two hours past the stipulated 8:30pm start time.

The lawsuit accused her of not only breaching contracts with ticket buyers, but also of “false advertising, negligent representation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices”.

A few months later, Madonna asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed against her. Her representatives said: “Plaintiffs speculate that ticketholders who left the venue after 1am 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.”

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Per Billboard, the parties attributed the delay to a technical difficulty experienced during the soundcheck for the December 13 date.

Now, Madonna’s lawyers have addressed the claims again and made it clear that they have not agreed to any settlement with the plaintiffs. After they initially responded, the plaintiffs believed this was tantamount to a settlement agreement, leading their lawyer to file a settlement notice.

Madonna’s lawyers have now asked a judge to strike out the settlement notice. While they did acknowledge they had communicated with the plaintiffs’ own lawyers, they argued the notice of settlement was false, characterising it as a “harassment campaign”.