Earlier this year Madonna was slapped with two lawsuits from concertgoers in New York and Washington DC, respectively, over shows on her Celebration Tour starting more than two hours late. Now West Coast fans are entering the legal fray, with plaintiff Justen Lipeles filing a class action lawsuit for himself and “all individuals in California who were deceived and lulled into purchasing expensive tickets for Madonna’s concert!” Ok, I added the exclamation point, but this CA case is really upping the ante. Not only are Lipeles & Co. suing over another late start, but they’re alleging Madonna roasted them by refusing to put the AC on, and exposed them to lewd and lascivious imagery on stage. Plus she lip-synced!! They cited all of these misdeeds as Madge’s “flippant disrespect for her fans.”
The charges: The plaintiff, Justen Lipeles, filed a class action lawsuit on his behalf and that of all individuals in California who were deceived and lulled into purchasing expensive tickets for Madonna’s concert. He slammed the music icon, her promoter Live Nation, and other organizations involved in her Celebration Tour for six crimes — breach of written contract, negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false advertising, negligence/negligent infliction of emotional distress, and unfair competition.
Hot & bothered: Lipeles claimed the defendants, specifically Madonna and Live Nation, “purposely and deceptively withheld informing ticket purchasers” about crucial issues while promoting her Celebration Tour. Because of this lack of information, he arrived at Kia Forum early on March 7, 2024, expecting the concert to start at 8:30 pm, as promised. Instead, the show started after 10:00pm, and things worsened inside the venue because Madonna allegedly demanded the air conditioning be turned off. Lipeles noted he and other fans were profusely sweating and eventually became physically ill due to the heat. According to the lawsuit, the heat became unbearable to the point where fans voiced their complaints about the uncomfortable atmosphere. However, Madonna cold-heartedly dismissed their discomfort and allegedly told them to take their clothes off.
Lip-synching & topless dancers & flippant disrespect, oh my! Lipeles noted that their fans’ woes didn’t end there, as the money they had spent to see Madonna perform live was wasted on her “apparent” lip-synching. Then, they were “forced to watch topless women on stage simulating sex acts. … Forcing consumers to wait hours in hot, uncomfortable arenas and subjecting them to pornography without warning is demonstrative of Madonna’s flippant disrespect for her fans,” Lipeles argued, noting that it felt like he was watching a pornographic film being made.
Warning – the concert you are purchasing a ticket for may not begin on time: Lipeles argued that Madonna and her tour promoters were aware of her habits; therefore, they should have informed fans about her possibly starting a concert late. He claimed they did so in 2019 at her Madame X Tour, where they gave consumers reasonable notice of a later start time.
Lipeles wants damages for himself and other ‘aggrieved’ fans: He stressed that they deserved compensatory damages for breach of written contract since the concert didn’t start at the agreed-upon time. Lipeles’ demands also included pre- and post-judgment interests, costs of the lawsuit, and reasonable attorney fees. The plaintiff asked for injunctive relief ordering the defendants’ “unfair business acts and practices” to cease and restitution in the amount he and other fans paid for tickets plus the disgorgement of the profits Madonna’s corner made from those transactions.
[From The Blast via Yahoo! Entertainment]
No AC at a densely-populated event?! That has to be a violation of some government code, surely, if not a crime against humanity. That’s a serious health risk for the audience (it’s been less than a year since a fan died at an overheated Taylor Swift concert), but also think of all her dancers working they’re patooties off. No wonder they’re topless! Madonna has everyone literally burning up for her! Just imagine how long the disclaimer is gonna be if this plaintiff is successful in forcing promoters to issue a warning to fans: “Please be advised, in purchasing a ticket to this performance you are acknowledging and consenting to a long, unpredictable wait time for the show to commence, uncomfortably verging on unhealthily hot conditions throughout, and being both exposed to and encouraged to take part in nudity. Music makes the people come together.”
Photos credit: J King/Dilson Silva/Backgrid, Getty
Dancers simulating sex acts at a Madonna show? I’m shocked SHOCKED!
Yeah, that part of it sounds pretty much like a Madonna concert regular feature and if you don’t like that, don’t go.
Where I do agree with the fan is not starting the concert on time: This is something she has issues with worldwide and given how she herself treats people who work for her who aren’t on time, she has no excuse. Plus, where I live many people are reliant on public transport and the less central you live, the earlier that shuts down.
I also think that the temperature should not be too high.
Another artist, Nicki Minaj, like Madonna showed up hours late for her concert. She was caught after a luggage scan with dozens of joints in her baggage when flying to Manchester. She missed the concert there. An update: she’s cancelled her second concert in Amsterdam entirely.
It’s not just these women, but artists need to realize how expensive concerts are and how it inconveniences people when they behave entitled.
Didn’t Britney lip sync at her concerts? But Madge is cold, so she wants the venue warm. And tardy to her party.
Her fans are older and litigious now. I’m a fan, but I’m too risk averse to see her nowadays. We aren’t as fawning as in the good old days. The heat thing is dangerous, so that could stick if she was responsible. Temperature is usually because of maintenance failure by venue management.
Maybe I’m just burned out and cynical, but this story has all the makings of a PR stunt. Madonna’s tour didn’t generate the buzz she needed and this is the best she can do to generate interest. If only that boxer boyfriend story had been more believable.
Oh my goodness, Madonna wearing slutty outfits and grabbing her crotch while wearing rosaries and crucifixes! This has never been done before, the audacity. I am no expert on concert going culture or standards but some people posting on here have mentioned that it is very common for concerts to start late so. I don’t know. Madonna has a lot of money so her lawyers will settle this lawsuit.
Had his clients never heard of Madonna before they attended the concert?! OF COURSE there’s going to be sexual content – and it’s why concerts have 18+ ratings when you buy tickets. As for the AC thing – that’s not only cruel and dangerous – I’m fairly sure it’s also against code for a concert venue of that size.
I didn’t give a hoot about the sex acts – this is MADONNA, for flipping sakes, did they not see her Erotica book or documentary??
But as someone who plunked down $650 for my ticket in Austin, where the heat inside was over 90 degrees in a sold out arena, it was insane. They also seemed to have some misters coming down over the audience, but given the heat, it just added to steam to the humidity and did NOT help. Some of my friends took their tops off (as did many many others) and just went in their bras a la 90s era Madonna. We were all dripping in sweat and beyond glistening, it was not a pretty site. Apparently its written into her contracts to keep the air off during her shows because its better for her singing. It was massively offensive to her audience, who, lets face it, was almost exclusively menopausal women and older, overweight gay men. We Madonna fans are not spring chickens, and we need our AC. I feel like this should have been illegal, and can’t believe the arenas are agreeing to her terms. My assistant has a part time job working events at our Moody Center, and the employees were all told in advance about the contract terms related to the AC, they frankly need to tell the ticket buyers as well. No way would I have spent that money if I knew I was going to be in a densely packed sauna sweating away for 5 hours (including the 2+ hours before she actually came out to start at 10:30 pm). I’m glad some folks are suing her over this concert, but I wish they would stick to what I actually think she could be liable for, like the heat, as opposed to simulated sex acts my topless women or the delayed start time because that is not exactly unheard of for big acts.
Not a pretty sight, how about the aroma of all those sweating people?
She had the no AC rule in Austin. My friends who went said it was miserable. She also started late. I have lost so much respect for Madonna.
This guy is tripping balls. I doubt very much whether Madonna has control over the venue so the air temperature would’ve had nothing to do with her. And there is reasonable expectation the show would have sexually charged segments, it’s literally been a trademark of her career. Every live performer that has vigorous dance routines will lip sync some parts of the show, especially pop performers who have highly produced songs dependent on studio trickery. A late show is annoying but is it really worth going to court over???? This dude is ridiculous.
The artist can absolutely dictate the temp in an arena. She heard that artists like Adele who can ACTUALLY sing have the AC off in the front rows to protect their voices so of course Madonna has to do the same only more obnoxiously.