Madonna, ticketholders clash over 'settlement' in late concert case
By Mike Scarcella
June 11 (Reuters) -Madonna and ticketing giant Live Nation LYV.N told a U.S. judge on Monday that they were nowhere near settling a proposed class action from fans who sued over a late concert start, accusing a lawyer for the plaintiffs of misleading the court.
The pop icon's lawyer, Jeff Warshafsky, who also represents Live Nation, said in a court filing that the ticketholders' attorney made a “false” statement to U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez in Brooklyn last Friday that there was a settlement in the case. Warshafsky said there had been talks, but nothing was final.
Two concert goers sued Madonna, Live Nation and Brooklyn's Barclay's Center in January, accusing them of “a wanton exercise in false advertising” over a nighttime show at the arena that began two hours after its billed start time. The plaintiffs said they would not have purchased tickets if they knew the concert would start that late.
Plaintiffs lawyer Marcus Corwin, who submitted the settlement notice,defended the filing at a hearing on Monday. “I would never file something that is not factually correct,” he said. He said he believed based on prior communications that there was a settlement.
Warshafsky said at the hearing that Corwin was waging a “harassment campaign” aimed at "extorting a lucrative settlement by forcing defendants to incur unnecessary legal fees.”
The judge struck the settlement notice and urged the lawyers to work towards a resolution. “There’s far from a settlement,” Gonzalez said.
“I do find this type of dealing, of getting the court involved, is not something that I appreciate,” the judge said.
Corwin and Warshafsky did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the hearing, Corwin said that settlement discussions had focused on resolving not just the lawsuit in New York but “98 other cases” and a class action in Washington, D.C. federal court.
“Madonna has a long history of arriving and starting her concerts late, sometimes several hours late,” according to the lawsuit in Brooklyn.
Corwin told the judge that Madonna and the other defendants as part of the settlement talks were trying to bar his firm from filing more claims against them. “That is something that I can't agree to and my clients can’t agree to,” Corwin said.
The case is Fellows et al v. Madonna Louise Ciccone et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1:24-cv-00357-HG.
For plaintiffs: Marcus Corwin of Marcus W. Corwin, P.A.
For defendants: Jeff Warshafsky of Proskauer Rose
Read more:
Live Nation ticket buyers sue in wake of US Justice Department case
US legal team in Live Nation lawsuit includes veteran plaintiffs' attorney
Live Nation 'suffocates its competition,' US says in monopoly lawsuit
Reporting by Mike Scarcella
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