A few years ago, we learned that Madison Square Garden was using facial recognition technology to kick out legal adversaries. Now, it looks like the famous New York arena is also using it for other, more dubious purposes. Who could've guessed this would happen! The news comes from Wired, who reported back in April that the security staff for Knicks owner Jim Dolan allegedly tracked a trans woman's movements with the surveillance technology, monitoring her over a two-year period. Now, a new report says the technology also flags LGBTQIA celebrities.
A criminal hacker collective called ShinyHunters recently published a slew of documents exposing the MSG database. 93 entries are marked as "LGBTQIA," such as Ricky Martin, Phoebe Bridgers, and Geese's Emily Green (Martin and Bridgers have performed at MSG; Green has not). The reason behind this flagging is unclear, but former MSG security vice president Donald Ingrasselino launched a lawsuit last year accusing Dolan's chief security officer John Eversole of having a fixation on the trans woman who was being incessantly surveilled. He would allegedly display the woman's photo during weekly meetings, misgender her, and tell his employees to look out for "him or it or whatever it is." Eversole's goal was allegedly to keep her "away from the players."
The database also marks some entries with risk scores, often based on social media posts, a source told Wired. "It doesn't have to be that serious. You could just be critical of the team or the place itself," the source said. "You could post that you had a hard time getting in and you really didn't like the way you were treated at one of the gates. Which is really nothing, right?"
Here's how the publication detailed the system:
"Flag" is the lowest, an indication to discuss the VIP with a supervisor. Next is "low risk" — that's the marking for [Edie] Falco, [Tracy] Morgan, and Ben Stiller, their fellow Knicks ride-or-die. After that is "medium risk" (the actor Lily Allen, her ex David Harbour, and the country singer Morgan Wallen) and "high risk" (the hip-hop stars Freddie Gibbs, Lil Jon, DaBaby, and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie). The rapper Lil Tjay, who recently was involved in an altercation at the Garden's Hulu Theater, is "BANNED FROM MSG," according to the database.
Class action lawsuits against MSG are accumulating in the wake of the leak. ShinyHunters had demanded ransom to delete their data, but MSG apparently didn't meet their terms. Internal emails, celebrity contacts, and other corporate information were leaked as well.
An MSG spokesperson offered a statement to Stereogum, saying, "Wired's reporting is inaccurate and false. MSG is pursuing legal remedies."
