Madonna sued by fan for “forcing” them to watch sex acts during ‘Celebration’ shows
Madonna has been sued by a fan, who has claimed that he and others were “forced” to watch sex acts while at her ‘Celebration’ shows.
The lawsuit was filed by a fan named Justen Lipeles in a California court, and alleges that neither he nor other concertgoers were warned about the explicit content that would appear as Madonna took to the state in Los Angeles.
He attended the singer’s show at the Kia Forum on March 7, and is claiming that he should have been warned about what to expect from the show beforehand.
In his filing, he claims that the performance started over an hour and a half late, Madonna was lip-syncing during parts of the set, and fans were subjected to uncomfortable conditions because of both the heat and explicit content (via TMZ).
The heat at the show, he claims, was caused because the singer requested that the air conditioning be turned off, and told people in the crowd to strip down if they felt too warm. He also alleges that the move created an uncomfortable environment and even resulted in some becoming physically ill.
As for the explicit nature of the live show, Lipeles said in the lawsuit that the fans were subjected to “pornography without warning” and “forced to watch topless women on stage simulating sex acts” on stage.
“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 suit stated, as per The Independent.
The lawsuit sees Madge sued for breach of written contract, negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false advertising, negligence/negligent infliction of emotional distress and unfair competition. The plaintiff is seeking a refund for his ticket and/or profits from the gig. He is also seeking a jury trial in the case.
Madonna has not publicly commented on the filing.
The ‘Celebration’ tour ran throughout 2023 and into 2024. It was postponed from its original start date in July 2023 following Madonna’s life-threatening bacterial infection, which left her family “preparing for the worst”. The singer has since recovered, and has revealed her first word that she spoke upon waking up from her coma.
The dates came to an end earlier this month, and finished with the singer playing the largest show of her career to 1.6million people at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The show was free to attend, and marked Madonna’s first performance in the country since 2012.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
