A fan has sued Madonna for emotional distress and subjecting fans to explicit content at her Celebration Tour.
Between October 2023 and May 2024, the ‘Like a Virgin’ singer treated fans to her highly anticipated world tour months after she was hospitalised with a severe bacterial infection.
Split into five acts, the immersive concert features sickening choreography, larger-than-life set pieces, a Beyoncé shout-out, Bob the Drag Queen and over 40 songs from her legendary catalogue.
In addition to the high-energy numbers, Madonna’s show includes stripped-down moments, like her heartfelt rendition of ‘Live to Tell’ – which is a tribute to the countless LGBTQIA+ individuals who lost their lives during the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis.
While The Celebration Tour has garnered universal acclaim, Madge has received criticism and, most recently, legal action for some of the show’s content and her business practices.
On 30 May, Justin Lipeles filed a class action lawsuit against the ‘Like A Virgin’ singer, claiming that the tour “deceived” him and other concertgoers.
In court documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly, the fan accused Madonna and tour promoter Live Nation of “lulling” attendees into paying for “expensive tickets,” adding that they “purposely and deceptively” withheld information from the marketing of the tour.
Lipeles, who attended the 7 March show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, reportedly bought four tickets for the concert, which were $500 each.
The lawsuit also claimed that concertgoers weren’t notified about the late 10:00 p.m. start time despite allegedly being promised that the show would kick off at 8:30 p.m.
Elsewhere in the filing, Lipeles accused Madonna of maintaining uncomfortable temperatures amid fan complaints, adding that he became “physically ill as a result.”
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“The temperature inside the Kia Forum was uncomfortably hot as required by Madonna, who refused to allow the air conditioning to be turned on,” the document read, per The Guardian.
“When fans complained about the heat, Madonna unreasonably told them to take their clothes off. Further, during most of the performance, it was apparent to the plaintiff that Madonna was lip-syncing.”
Lastly, Lipeles’ lawsuit claimed that attendees were “forced to watch topless women on stage simulating sex acts,” which made him feel as if he was watching pornography.
“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,” the complaint adds.
Due to the aforementioned accusations, Lipeles is suing for unspecified damages for breach of content, emotional distress, unfair competition, negligent misrepresentation, and false advertising.
Forum Entertainment, Kia Forum, Acrisure Arena, the Golden 1 Center and Chase Center are listed as defendants in the filing.
As of this writing, Madonna has yet to release a statement.
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Lipeles’ lawsuit comes a few months after two concertgoers, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, sued Madge for being over two hours late to her 13 December show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In the filing, Fellows and Hadden claimed that the show was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. but ended up starting a little after 10:45 p.m., per ABC News.
Due to Madonna’s delay, the pair said they were “confronted with limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs” following the show’s conclusion at 1:00 a.m.
In addition to the ‘Hung Up’ singer, Hadden and Fellows have also sued Live Nation and Barclays Center, citing “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices” for the concert’s failure to adhere to its advertised 8:30 start time.
In response to the lawsuit, Madonna’s legal team filed a motion in April to dismiss it, claiming the set start and end time was never promised.
“No reasonable concertgoer – and certainly no Madonna fan – would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time,” the motion read, per CBS News.
Stay tuned for more updates.
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