The lawsuit against Madonna regarding the late start of her Celebration World Tour has been dismissed without a settlement. Court documents obtained by PEOPLE recently reveal that plaintiffs Michael Fellows and Jason Alvarez voluntarily dismissed their case against Madonna, indicating a “voluntary dismissal with prejudice.”
The 65-year-old Grammy winner was sued in January for a delayed start time at her December show in Brooklyn. The plaintiffs accused her of “false advertising” and filed the lawsuit. Due to the dismissal with prejudice, Fellows and Alvarez cannot re-file their claims. Madonna and Live Nation’s attorney, Jeff Warshafsky, clarified that the dismissal was not due to any settlement.
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Warshafsky's letter stated that Madonna and Live Nation disagreed with the plaintiffs' suggestion that each party should cover its own legal fees and costs. He described the lawsuit as a frivolous attempt to force legal expenses on the defendants, which the plaintiffs abandoned when they realized it would not lead to a settlement and they would have to oppose a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint.
Warshafsky also mentioned that the defendants might seek sanctions, attorneys’ fees, and costs due to a false “Notice of Settlement” previously struck by the Court in June. The plaintiffs had alleged that Madonna’s December concert started at 10:30 p.m. instead of the advertised 8:30 p.m., accusing her of “false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
They claimed they would not have purchased tickets if they had known about the delayed start time, which caused them to face limited public transportation and higher transportation costs when leaving the venue after 1 a.m.
Additionally, in May, another fan, Justen Lipeles, filed a lawsuit against Madonna, alleging that she and Live Nation misled concertgoers into buying expensive tickets for her February and March shows by withholding information about the start times. Lipeles also accused Madonna of maintaining an uncomfortable temperature during performances and subjecting concertgoers to simulated sexual acts onstage without warning.
–Farheen Ali
