Madonna faces fine after 'breaching' strict venue rules

LONDON

Madonna, 65, started her world Celebration Tour concert at the O2 Arena over the weekend after being forced to postpone it due to illness. But now the singer is facing a whopping £300,000 fine for breaching strict curfew rules on the Oct. 15 performance.

After a series of tech errors, the Material Girl singer was forced to push back the show’s start time. The concert was due to finish at 10:30 p.m. but ran over until 11 p.m., when it was suddenly cut short, meaning she missed out four tracks on her setlist.

The O2 Arena has a strict curfew policy in place which dictates that events must finish by 11 p.m. Monday-Saturday and by 10:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Despite cutting the show short, forcing her to omit fan favorites such as Like a Virgin and Celebration, the star’s show still overran by 30 minutes.

Due to a deal struck between venue operators AEG and Transport for London, there is a £10,000 fine for every minute an event runs over the curfew, according to The Sun.

Given the star ran over by a total of 30 minutes, this means she could face a total penalty of £300,000 for breaching the curfew. It also left concert-goers with a narrow window to make the final tube of the evening.

It came after a series of tech issues on her Saturday opening show, as the star told crowds, according to the Metro: “This is exactly what you don't want to happen on your opening night, so this wasn't planned, I'm sorry.”

Luckily for Madonna the curfew for the wider Greenwich borough wasn’t broken, as a spokesperson told Metro: "We have looked into the reports regarding the concert. We do not intend to investigate as the performance did not breach any Council rules.”

Madonna is set to head to the North America in December for the next leg of the tour.