Madison Square Garden boss and Knicks owner James Dolan has been linked to fallen movie maker Harvey Weinstein i n a new federal lawsuit accusing the pair of sex trafficking and sexual assault.
According to a complaint filed Tuesday, Dolan used his influence to take advantage of a 27-year-old massage therapist.
The woman, Kellye Croft, alleges Dolan manipulated her into an abusive sexual relationship during a 2013 concert tour for his band, “JD and the Straight Shot,” which opened for The Eagles.
“Dolan quickly manipulated the vulnerable and isolated woman—who was 30 years younger than him—into a sexual relationship,” according to Croft’s lawsuit, which was filed by attorney Douglas Wigdor.
He also “coordinated” a meeting between Croft and Weinstein, leading to the movie mogul sexually assaulting her in 2014, the lawsuit alleges.
Dolan has claimed he knew nothing about Weinstein’s long history as a sex predator, even writing a song in 2018 about sins of his some of his powerful friends called “I Should’ve Known.”
“There is absolutely no merit to any of the allegations against Mr. Dolan. Kellye Croft and James Dolan had a friendship,” E. Danya Perry, of The Perry law Firm said in a statement Tuesday. “The references to Harvey Weinstein are simply meant to inflame and appear to be plagiarized from prior cases against Mr. Weinstein. These claims reflect an act of retaliation by an attorney who has brought multiple cases against Mr. Dolan and has not, and cannot, win a judgement against him.
“Mr. Dolan always believed Ms. Croft to be a good person and is surprised she would agree to these claims. Bottom line, this is not a he said/she said matter and there is compelling evidence to back up our position. We look forward to proving that in court.”
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