In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, a Tennessee woman alleged that James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, pressured her into having sex and that former movie producer Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her a decade ago.
“I have suffered greatly because of what James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein did to me years ago, and the decision to come forward and seek justice was not an easy one,” the woman, Kelly Croft, said in a statement. “But for me, to truly process my trauma, I need to seek accountability. James Dolan manipulated me, brought me to California to abuse me, and then subjected me to a vicious attack by Weinstein. I hope my lawsuit will force Dolan to acknowledge what he did to me and take responsibility.” Responsibility for the damage caused.
Dolan and Weinstein have denied the allegations through their lawyers. The lawsuit was first reported in The New York Times.
According to the lawsuit filed in California, Croft was a massage therapist working on a concert tour with the Eagles in 2013. She met Dolan on that tour with his band JD & The Straight Shot, who served as an opening act for the Eagles.
While he was touring, and as the consensual massage was coming to an end, Dolan pulled Croft towards him and placed her hands between his knees, according to the lawsuit.
Croft was “adamant that she did not want to have any sexual interactions with Dolan,” the lawsuit says.
“After this unwanted sexual contact, Ms. Croft was called into Dolan’s room several times during the remainder of that portion of the tour. “On each of these occasions, Dolan made unwelcome advances toward Ms. Croft, and she felt obligated,” the suit says. By having sex with him.”
According to the lawsuit, in January 2014, Dolan and music director Irving Azoff flew Croft to Los Angeles, with Azoff’s corporate entities paying for Croft’s travel costs. Croft says she thought she was headed to California to continue working as a masseuse for the Eagles. The band was still on tour with JD & The Straight Shot.
Days later, according to the lawsuit, Dolan encouraged Croft to join aides from Irving Azoff’s management for shopping and dinner in Los Angeles. Returning to her hotel after going out to dinner, Croft was waiting for the elevator when a man asked her: “Whose travel trunk is this?”
The man who asked the question, according to the lawsuit, was Weinstein, a former film producer who was later convicted of sex crimes. When Croft said the food was for her friend Dolan, Weinstein told Croft that the sports mogul was “one of his best friends,” according to the lawsuit. He then asked her if she was his “massage therapist,” saying Dolan mentioned his massage therapist and said great things about her.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstein said he might have business opportunities to offer Croft assistance with massage therapy for actors on the sets of his films. He then invited Croft to his hotel room to talk.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstein asked Croft to massage him, though Croft declined, saying she was particularly interested in the types of massage tables she used. Weinstein later went to the bathroom and returned wearing a “loosely tied bathrobe,” the lawsuit says.
Weinstein again asked for a massage, and after Croft again refused and tried to leave the room, Weinstein locked the door, the suit says. After explaining again that she needed her own massage table, Weinstein allowed her to leave the room but followed her down the hallway.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstein stuck his foot in Croft’s bedroom door while she was trying to close it, entered the room, and then assaulted her.
A phone call from Dolan to Croft’s room broke off the encounter, according to the lawsuit, and Croft picked up the phone and told Dolan she would meet him soon.
“After overhearing her speaking to Dolan, Weinstein backed away from Ms. Croft,” the suit says. Then he said to her: Well, you know that Jim and I are best friends. He’ll be very disappointed that you led me on, and that won’t look good for you. Weinstein then left Ms. Croft’s hotel room.
According to the lawsuit, Croft told Dolan about the alleged assault immediately afterward, and Dolan readily admitted to Ms. Croft that he knew all about Weinstein’s history of assaulting and sexually assaulting women, telling her that “‘we all know’ that Weinstein ‘has issues.’”
Weinstein is serving 23 years in a New York prison for a rape and sexual assault conviction in 2020. In 2022, he was convicted of sex crimes in California and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The sentences must be presented separately. Both cases are under appeal.
The lawsuit lists multiple defendants, including Dolan, Weinstein, JD & The Straight Shot, and The Azoff Company, among others.
Dolan’s lawyer, E. “There is absolutely no basis for any of the allegations made against Mr. Dolan,” Dania Perry said in a statement provided to her. The athlete. “Kelly Croft and James Dolan had a friendship. The references to Harvey Weinstein are simply intended to inflame and appear to be plagiarized from previous cases against Mr. Weinstein.
Weinstein’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, was not available when contacted The athlete Tuesday evening, but issued a statement to other media outlets earlier in the day.
“Weinstein vehemently denies these baseless allegations and looks forward to litigating these allegations in a court where the truth will be revealed,” Mr. Bongin said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
One of the law firms representing Croft, Wigdor LLP, has represented clients in cases against Dolan before.
She is currently representing former Knicks big man Charles Oakley in the case Oakley filed against Madison Square Garden after Dolan ejected him from the stands of a game in 2017. Douglas H. Wigdor and Kevin Mintzer, Kroft’s attorneys, represented nine of Weinstein’s accusers.
“It is time to hold Dolan accountable for his terrible behavior,” Wigdor said in a statement.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fielded a question about the allegations against Dolan during a news conference Tuesday afternoon but declined to comment.
“I saw the article and I don’t know anything else about it other than I read the article,” Silver said. “We will stand by and wait to learn more information.”
In 2007, former Knicks executive Anucha Brown-Sanders sued the team’s former general manager, Isiah Thomas, as well as Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the Knicks and is managed by Dolan, for sexual harassment. She won the lawsuit, and Dolan was ordered to pay Sanders $11.6 million.
(James Dolan Image: Paul Berryswell/Getty Images)