Leaked Madison Square Garden Database Secretly Tagged 93 Celebrities as ‘LGBTQIA’ With No Explanation Why
Queer celebrities listed in the leak include Phoebe Bridgers, Ice Spice, and Ricky Martin.
A database from Madison Square Garden leaked online, showing various descriptions the venue used to label celebrities, including 93 stars labeled “LGBTQIA.”
Wired reported the leak on Thursday, which included risk assessments of about 400 stars. They ranged from Fat Joe to Edie Falco. Those stars are part of a “talent” database reportedly kept by MSG.
404 ran an initial story about the database leaked by hacker collective ShinyHunters.
Explanations for the scores are not provided in the leak, but the venue is known to keep records of its high-profile fans and even those who criticize the Knicks’ owner and MSG CEO Jim Dolan.
“A source with knowledge of the matter tells WIRED that Garden security has performed social media sweeps for prominent people looking for complimentary tickets to games. If you’re a celebrity and you’re marked with a risk score—even as a low risk—it means ‘you’ve done something in the publicity world, the social media world, that has caught the attention of the wrong people,’ the source continues,” Wired reports.
While the source said such databases aren’t unusual for arenas, they also told the outlet, “It’s a really, really paranoid, terrible system.”
MSG’s security apparatus actively looks online for negative things said or done by its guests, especially its VIP stars, according to the reporting.
Within the almost 40,000-person database are also more than 90 labeled “LGBTQIA,” which only focuses on the identity of the person.
Celebs like Phoebe Bridgers, Ricky Martin, and Emily Green were marked, according to Wired.
Other queer celebrities like Ice Spice and Julia Fox are also featured, but it isn’t clear if they were also labeled “LGBTQIA.” Some stars also had their race labeled.
The labeling comes after an investigation, also by Wired, found extensive surveillance of a trans woman who was a frequent visitor to the Garden as a season pass holder to the Knicks games.
“I’ve never met James Dolan. I don’t know the higher-up leadership at Madison Square Garden. But, like, there does seem to be a bit of a pattern here,” Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, told Wired. “They just seem overly interested in queer and trans people in their venue.”
