Lawyers who've been banned from MSG by James Doland recall stories of being swarmed by guards and booted

New York Post

4 days ago

For Seth Diamond, a visit to Madison Square Garden was like a slap shot to the face.
The Georgia personal injury lawyer was vacationing in the Big Apple and hoping to see a Rangers game with his young son when an MSG official sudden turned him away at the gate — leaving the boy in tears and Diamond wondering just was was going on.
It turns out the attorney is one of hundreds of lawyers who have been banned from MSG and other connected properties like Radio City Music Hall since owner James Dolan was first exposed for launching a controversial policy to kick out critics using facial recognition tech in 2022, according to a report published by ESPN Wednesday.
And even though Diamond wasn't working on any case against MSG, because other lawyers from his massive national firm were suing the arena owners, he was on the not-welcome list. Instead of the going to the game, Diamond and the tearful boy went to a Build-A-Bear Workshop down the block.
'Remember,' he told his 7-year-old son after being booted. 'The person who made this decision — they have more money than probably anyone you'll ever meet in your life…But they're doing things that aren't good,' he told ESPN.
In the past few years, Dolan has tuned up MSG Entertainment's so-called 'exclusion list' to include a total of more than 1,000 lawyers from roughly 90 law firms around the country, according to the outlet.
A spokeswoman for MSG Entertainment disputed those numbers and called the report 'total hack story.'
Since the policy launched, lawyers and other Dolan critics have been swarmed by guards as if they're criminals and received dramatic FedEX packages informing them they are banned, according to the report.
3 More than a thousand lawyers have reportedly been banned from Madison Square Garden due to billionaire James Dolan's controversial policy.
Christopher Peterson / SplashNews.com
'They came running over like the 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,' with their fingers on their earpieces,' Frank Miller Jr., said of guards who reportedly stormed him at Radio City Music Hall in March.
Miller, a former Hot 97 radio art director who designed a 'BAN DOLAN' t-shirt, was handed a 'trespass notice' and booted from a Cleo Sol concert as his panic-stricken mother watched in disbelief, he said.
Along with Miller, lawyers have been denied access to much-hyped events — ranging from basketball games to comedy shows — at MSG Entertainment-run venues since the policy started, according to ESPN.
3 Some lawyers were spotted in security line while entering the venues.
Christopher Sadowski
Other banned lawyers include Justin Brandel, whose parents surprised him with orchestra-level tickets to see comedians John Oliver and Seth Meyers at the MSG Entertainment-owned venue Beacon Theatre.
'I had to explain to them that I couldn't go…because I didn't want to give the MSG Company the satisfaction of kicking me out without any refunds. They ended up taking a couple that they're friendly with,' he told ESPN.
3 Some lawyers received dramatic FedEX packages informing them they are banned from MSG.
Christopher Sadowski
Nicolette Landi, who specializes in personal injury, was thrilled to get a $375 ticket to Mariah Carey's Holiday concert at MSG from her husband for Christmas 2022.
But she didn't make it past security before she was identified using facial recognition that apparently matched with her professional photo online.
'As soon as my bag was going through the [conveyor] belt, there were 10 security guards around me,' she told ESPN.
'Yeah, it's her,' one of the guards said after he checked her ID, according to Landi.
'Oh my God, what did you do?' her husband asked — before they were ushered outside to a sidewalk, she said.
'I was like, 'Well, what do we do now? I guess we just go home,'' she said.
She ultimately bought a counterfeit Mariah Carey t-shirt outside 'because I couldn't get a real one,' she said.
Dan Watts, a Queens native who also works at Morgan & Morgan, was also booted from MSG after scoring tickets to a St. John's Red Storm NCAA basketball game against Fordham on Dec. 16, 2023.
Watts, his mom and her boyfriend, made it to their ground-floor seats at MSG when security guards recognized him and booted him from the event.
MSG Entertainment, which has the legal right to turn away customers and use facial recognition tools, allows the lawyers to return once the cases are resolved.
The company is currently defending itself in 19 active lawsuits, most of which involve personal injury claims at the Garden, according to ESPN.
On Wednesday, spokeswoman for MSG entertainment told The Post the 1,000 banned lawyers figure reported by ESPN was inaccurate and called the report unbiased.
'MSG Entertainment's policies are constructed to ensure the safety and security of our patrons and employees,' the spokeswoman said in a statement. 'This policy has been in effect for over five years. Attorneys that are employed by law firms that are actively suing MSG and its employees are deemed to be hostile and are prohibited from patronizing our venues until the litigation is concluded.'
'Other individuals are similarly excluded from patronizing MSG Entertainment's venues if they have engaged in behavior that is deemed violent or threatening to our patrons or employees. These cases are reviewed after a period of time to see if they are still a threat,' the statement notes.
In the past, Dolan has defended the policy, saying, 'If there's someone you don't want to serve, you get to say, 'I don't want to serve you.''
'If there's somebody who is suing you and trying to put you out of business or take your money from you… You have a right to be, yes, a little unhappy about it,' he told FOX in January 2023.