Madonna sued by NYC concertgoers for starting Barclays Center show late

NEW YORK — Two New York City Madonna fans are taking the pop star to court over the late start to her Barclays Center concert last month.

Michael Fellows of Brooklyn and Jonathan Hadden of the Bronx say they were “lulled into purchasing tickets” for the seven-time Grammy winner‘s sold-out Dec. 13 concert at the Brooklyn arena — but couldn’t get into the groove after waiting hours for her to hit the stage.

The complaint, filed Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, argues that tickets stated the show would start at 8:30 p.m. However, with Madonna not taking the stage until sometime between 10:45 p.m. and 11 p.m., the complainants say they were “confronted with limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs” by the time the show let out at 1 a.m.

Fellows and Hadden also complained that “many ticket holders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day.”

Madonna, 65, launched her Celebration Tour in October at London’s O2 Arena. After she was hospitalized with a near-fatal bacterial infection in June, the singer postponed the North American leg of the tour.

The delayed Brooklyn show was the first of those rescheduled dates. The long wait ignited a firestorm on social media, pushing fans over the borderline to lament about their idol’s tardiness.

The “Material Girl” singer, promoter Live Nation and Barclays Center are named in the lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified damages.

Fellows and Hadden argue that the “defendants’ actions constitute not just a breach of their contracts with Plaintiffs and the Class Members, but also a wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.”

Seeking class action status “on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,” the pair allege there was a breach of contract for promising fans that the show would begin at 8:30 p.m. knowing that Madonna would not strike a pose at the advertised start time.

“Based on the years-long history of Madonna arriving several hours late to prior concerts (and which conduct continued at concerts in other cities after the Concerts at the Barclays Center, including concerts in Washington, D.C. and Boston), Plaintiffs knew or should have known that the Concerts would not start at 8:30 p.m., and that Madonna would not take the stage until several hours after the start time, causing Plaintiffs and all Class Members to have to wait several hours,” the lawsuit stated.

Madonna, Live Nation, Barclays Center have yet to publicly comment on the legal filing.

The Celebration Tour, with two performances set for Madison Square Garden next week on Jan. 22 and 23 and a third on Jan. 29, is scheduled to run through late April.