Madison Square Garden Sues Wired Over 93 LGBTQIA Entries in 40,000-Name VIP Database
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 18
Madison Square Garden Sues Wired Over 93 LGBTQIA Entries in 40,000-Name VIP Database
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 18
Summary
Madison Square Garden Entertainment filed a defamation suit Thursday, saying Wired falsely suggested it tracked LGBTQIA people for discriminatory purposes.
The July 9 Wired article described an internal database covering about 40,000 VIP guests and said 93 entries were labeled “L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.”, including Ricky Martin and Phoebe Bridgers.
MSG argues the story and its promotion manufactured a “false narrative” that it sought to identify, rank, exclude or discriminate against LGBTQIA celebrities, guests and fans.
The company says the database was not used that way and points instead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and partnerships tied to Pride and LGBTQ organizations.
The lawsuit follows earlier Wired reporting on MSG surveillance, including facial-recognition use and claims that James Dolan’s security team tracked a transgender woman inside the arena.