New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan is once again back in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
In a report from Ben Sisario at the New York Times, a woman has sued the MSG chairman for sexual assault which occurred in 2013 and ’14. The woman, Kellye Croft, was working as a masseuse on a concert tour at the time and alleges Dolan pressured her into sex multiple times.
Additionally, Dolan is accused of trafficking. Croft claims he flew them to California and he arranged for her to be sent to an appointment with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Even worse, Croft alleges Weinstein assaulted her.
Dolan’s legal team denied the charges and said there was “no merit” to the accusations. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver didn’t offer much either when asked to comment.
“I saw the article and don’t know anything else about it other than I read the article,” said Silver. “So we’ll stand by and wait to find out more information.”
This isn’t the first time James Dolan has made headlines for non-basketball reasons. Don’t forget his fellow MSG shareholders sued him for prioritizing his music over the Knicks and Rangers. And remember last year’s facial-recognition soap opera? New York deserves better.
But as of now, all that Silver can do is launch an investigation. This isn’t like Donald Sterling in 2014. The former Clippers owner was caught on tape making racist remarks and Silver had no choice but to act swiftly, banning him for life. The Clippers were soon sold to Steve Ballmer.
That said, Silver will face a similar choice if these allegations are true. Dolan has distanced himself from Weinstein, who’s currently serving two prison sentences for rape, but this is still a bad, bad look.
ESNY will update this story more as it develops.
