Madison Square Garden, one of America’s most cherished privately run surveillance states, keeps a database of which celebrity Knicks fans and Taylor Swift’s wedding guests are LGBTQIA as well as their “risk” level, per Wired. The outlet previously reported on the extent to which MSG surveills its patrons. The latest batch of docs released by the criminal hacking collective ShinyHunters revealed that MSG maintains a running database of “talent” hosted by the venue, rating them by “risk” level, to determine whether to give them free tickets. Even Knicks superfans and defenders of MSG’s obsessively paranoid owner James Dolan aren’t safe. Fat Joe, who called Dolan “Batman,” was labeled a “medium risk.” Unofficial star of the Knicks history-making championship run, Mariska Hartigay, is a “low risk.” Sonic The Hedgehog and Happy Endings star Adam Pally is “not to be hosted.” Five of Taylor Swift’s wedding guests were also evaluated by the Garden’s security. Never fear, Ice Spice, Michael Strahan, and Selena Gomez were all “low risk.”
The “talent” database is some 40,000 names deep, and a vast majority of them do not receive a risk evaluation. However, and for unknown reasons, the database tracks the race, gender identity, and sexual orientation of at least 93 celebrities, including Ricky Martin and Phoebe Bridgers, Wired reports. Whether Swift and Travis Kelce, who married at the venue on Saturday in a weird power flex to all the New Yorkers dying in the heat, required invitees to agree to such surveillance remains unconfirmed.
Aside from it being weird as hell that a sports venue keeps track of the sexuality of guests trying to watch the goddamn Knicks, the focus on LGBTQIA patrons is part of a larger pattern of paranoia. Last month, Wired reported that MSG went to great pains to alienate and remove a trans social media influencer who made their following as a diehard Knicks fan. She was tracked minute by minute by MSG security until she was eventually banned from the Garden, a lawsuit revealed. “They just seem overly interested in queer and trans people in their venue,” Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, told Wired.
Ironically, Dolan also owns the Sphere, which recently announced an upcoming slop-ified Rocky Horror Picture Show. We suppose they can use AI to de-queer the film while also keeping a close eye on the androgynous sexuality of the garter-belt enthusiasts who attend.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.avclub.com ’
