Madonna Under Fire For ‘Short-Changing’ Fans At The O2 Arena

Madonna kicked off the European leg of her tour on Saturday, October 14th, at the O2 Arena in London. The Queen of Pop also performed at the venue on Sunday, but her performance was followed by online backlash from disappointed concert-goers after it ended abruptly. Due to the venue’s rules, she arrived on stage too late to perform all the lineups.

According to the arena’s policy, all shows end by 11 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays and 10:30 p.m. on Sundays. Fans who purchased tickets felt short-changed for missing out on songs such as “Like A Virgin,” “B—h I’m Madonna,” “Holiday,” and “Celebration” due to the singer’s tardiness.

Fans react to Madonna’s lateness

After the gig, angry fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their frustration and advised Madonna to do better. “Please start a bit earlier for your next two @TheO2 shows. Cutting the end of your show is short-changing your loyal fans! We all know you’re a rule breaker, so if you run over, break the rules and pay the fine!” one user wrote, adding the Celebration tour hashtag.

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Another agreed, tagging Madonna and her manager, Guy Oseary, in their post. “It was a good show till they decided to cut it abruptly because @TheO2 has a curfew. Simple question: was it so difficult to start 15/20 mins earlier? @madonna @guyoseary this was quite unprofessional and disrespectful,” the disgruntled fan wrote.

Bad Press for Madge?

More fans expressed similar views, with some pointing out that Madonna was building a bad reputation, which is not a good start for her tour. “The UK curfew thing is bulls— and all but Madonna knew. I mean, I love her, but why didn’t she start earlier or simply pay the fine and finish the show? I know she had technical difficulties and all, but this only happens to her since the MDNA every other show. Bad press coming,” someone stated.

The night before, she had apologized for a technical issue that threw off the opening performance; however, it is not confirmed if the same problem was the reason for her lateness the following day. “This is exactly what you don’t want to happen on your opening night, so this wasn’t my plan— I’m sorry,” she said on day one while the issue was getting fixed.

Regardless, some fans did admit she delivered a phenomenal gig asides from the sudden halt. “She sounded incredible, and the stage production was phenomenal, but the abrupt and unexpected end to the show only left us blue-b—d,” a user wrote.