Image Credit: Katherine Tyler / iHeart Radio
A Florida man, Nate Hollander, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Madonna and concert promoter, Live Nation, for breach of contract.
Hollander bought $1,024.95 worth of tickets for Madonna’s Madam X Tour show taking place on Tuesday, December 17 at the Fillmore Miami Beach concert venue. Initially, the concert was to begin at 8:30 p.m. However, two months after Hollander purchased the tickets, Live Nation changed the start time to 10:30 p.m. Madonna has a history of showing up late to her concerts. Hollander’s complaint claims that the showtime was rescheduled to accommodate her tardiness.
After the concert time was changed, Hollander claims he tried, without success, to obtain a refund for his tickets from Live Nation. Since the show is now starting much later, Hollander claims that he and other ticket holders “suffered actual and consequential damages including, but not limited to, loss of consideration paid and the devaluation of the ticket.”
Hollander is suing on behalf of himself and all other ticket holders for breach of contract. He argues that Madonna and Live Nation should have known that the show would not start at the scheduled time, and that ticket holders have to go to work and school the next day, which prevents them from attending a concert that would end around 1:00 a.m. The complaint states that “all tickets purchased by Hollander and all class members suffered an extreme loss in value, making it impossible for Hollander and all class members to recover the amount paid for said tickets by reselling them.”
Hollander is seeking in excess of $15,000 in damages. As for Madonna, she seemingly responded to the lawsuit during her Las Vegas concert, telling her fans “there’s something that you all need to understand, and that is, that a queen is never late.”
While it is easy to sympathize with Hollander and the rest of the fans who purchased tickets to this show, his likelihood of success in court is slim. When purchasing tickets for an event, fans are required to accept the seller’s “terms & conditions,” which include purchase policies. According to Live Nation’s purchase policy, “[p]olicies set forth by Event Providers generally prohibit us from issuing exchanges or refunds after a ticket has been purchased or for lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed tickets.” Here, Madonna is considered the “event provider,” and by purchasing the tickets, fans have agreed to allow her team to decide whether a refund is warranted. Changes in the event time is often a condition agreed to in the “terms & conditions” accepted by a purchaser, and such event-time changes rarely result in refunds. Thus, Hollander’s suit holds little legal merit.
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