Wired Magazine allegedly used stolen information to wrongly claim that Madison Square Garden was secretly monitoring lists of gay celebrity fans, according to a surprising lawsuit filed by the entertainment company.
In its defamation lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, MSG accused Wired of fabricating a narrative that portrayed the organization as targeting the LGBTQIA community for discriminatory reasons.
A July 9 article asserted that MSG kept a secret database of celebrities and assigned them “risk scores” reminiscent of Big Brother. It claimed that information about their racial, gender, and sexual identities was compiled, with several entries marked as “LGBTQIA.”
“This couldn’t be further from the truth. MSG strongly supports the LGBTQIA community and has a rich history of inclusion,” the company stated on Thursday.
Led by James Dolan, MSG contested every aspect of the article, from its headline—“Madison Square Garden kept a list of gay celebrities”—to more minor specifics.
In fact, MSG claimed that the list was “created by the reporter himself through his own manipulation of raw data.”
The organization explained that the hacked information came from a “standard customer relationship management platform,” which is used for various customer service needs, including inviting individuals to LGBTQIA support events and identifying sponsorship opportunities.
Interestingly, MSG noted that it had been criticized by Wired in the past.
“Wired has published several inaccurate articles about MSG and appears more interested in distorting information to fit a questionable narrative than reporting the facts,” MSG added.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation, which recently marked the New York Knicks’ historic NBA championship, is seeking a retraction and damages.
The organization emphasized its long-standing support for LGBT individuals rather than any form of discrimination. The report highlighted that MSG has a “Pride Employee Resource Group” consisting of nearly 300 members and has contributed substantial funds to LGBT and Pride organizations.
The Post has attempted to contact Wired for a response.
