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Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan and former Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein were both named in a new sexual assault lawsuit filed by a former massage therapist.
Kellye Croft, then a 23-year-old, accused Dolan, 68, of being "extremely assertive" and pressuring her "into unwanted sexual intercourse with him" while the New York Knicks and New York Rangers owner was on tour with The Eagles in 2013, according to the lawsuit, which was obtained by CNN on Tuesday (January 16). Dolan allegedly "pulled Ms. Croft towards him" while he was getting a massage, the lawsuit states.
“Ms. Croft tried to bring the massage to an end, but Dolan proceeded to come on even stronger, treating Ms. Croft’s resistance as part of a challenge or a game. Dolan then grabbed Ms. Croft’s hands, dragging her to a couch in the same room and forcing her hands between his knees as he sat down. Ms. Croft was adamant that she did not want to have any sexual interactions with Dolan, who was married at the time and over thirty years older than Ms. Croft," the lawsuit claims.
“She felt disgusted and terrified of the situation, but the extreme isolation she felt from others on the tour, coupled with Dolan’s attention to her, his assertions that he would take care of her, and her recognition that this man held immense power over everyone’s position on the tour—including hers—led her to submit to Dolan’s advances,” the lawsuit added.
Weinstein, who is currently serving a 39-year prison sentence after being convicted of four counts of rape and one count sexual assault in 2022, was also named in the filing, which accused Dolan of setting up a meeting in a hotel that resulted in Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulting Croft. Representatives for both Dolan and Weinstein denied the allegations made in the lawsuit in separate statements to CNN.
Dolan recently resigned his positions on the NBA board of governors' influential advisory/finance and media committees prior to launching a lawsuit against the Toronto Raptors in which he questioned the objectivity of NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced in a memo obtained by ESPN on November 21. Dolan confirmed that he and his peers no longer planned to attend board of governor meetings, though specifying that he didn't relinquish voting power for the franchise, which would instead be turned over to Knicks general counsel Jamaal Lesane, who will now represent the team at BOG meetings, according to the memo.
The Knicks filed a lawsuit seeking more than $10 million in damages from the Raptors alleging the theft of thousands of confidential files, while also arguing that Silver shouldn't arbitrate the dispute given his close relationship with team governor Larry Tanenbaum, who also serves as chairman of the NBA's board of executives.
Dolan is one of the most polarizing owners in American sports with many Knicks fans having called for him to sell the team in the years leading up to the franchise's recent success, as well as his admitted use of facial recognition technology to keep critics out of Madison Square Garden. The 68-year-old recently opened the Sphere in Paradise, Nevada, east of the Las Vegas Strip.