{"id":11154,"date":"2026-07-18T19:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T19:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/msg-sues-wired-for-defamation-over-gay-celeb-list-article\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T19:26:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T19:26:31","slug":"msg-sues-wired-for-defamation-over-gay-celeb-list-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/msg-sues-wired-for-defamation-over-gay-celeb-list-article\/","title":{"rendered":"MSG Sues Wired For Defamation Over Gay Celeb List Article"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tMadison Square Garden is suing Wired<\/em> for defamation over an article last week claiming the Manhattan venue kept a database of hundreds of music stars and other celebrities, including their gender identity and sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe July 9 article<\/a>, which claimed Morgan Wallen, Ice Spice, Selena Gomez, Benson Boone and Fat Joe were all tracked, was headlined \u201cMadison Square Garden Kept a List of Gay Celebrities.\u201d It claimed that James Dolan\u2019s company had tagged dozens of stars, including Ricky Martin, Phoebe Bridgers and Geese\u2019s Emily Green, as \u201cLGBTQIA\u201d in the database.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn a lawsuit filed in Manhattan court Thursday (July 16) and obtained by Billboard<\/em>, attorneys for MSG called the Wired<\/em> story \u201cshockingly unethical\u201d and said the publication and its staffers \u201cshould be held accountable for their inexcusable actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWired<\/em> combed the dark web, obtained data stolen from MSG by an extortionist hacking group, and cherry-picked fragments of that data to manufacture a false narrative portraying MSG as targeting the LGBTQIA community for discriminatory purposes,\u201d MSG\u2019s lawyers write. \u201cNothing could be further from the truth \u2014 MSG is a fervent supporter of the LGBTQIA community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement posted to X, Wired<\/em> said: \u201cWe stand by this reporting, and we plan to vigorously defend it against this baseless and ridiculous lawsuit. We look forward to continuing our coverage of MSG, and on billionaire James Dolan\u2019s use of technology across his entertainment empire. It\u2019s one part of our wider mission and the critical job of journalists, now more than ever: holding power to account.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe list cited in Wired<\/em>\u2019s report was part of a trove of documents released by the hacker group ShinyHunters after MSG Entertainment \u2014 which also runs the Chicago Theatre, Radio City Music Hall and The Beacon Theatre \u2014 refused to pay a ransom. MSG is facing class actions over that hack on behalf of the many people whose personal information was allegedly collected by the venue and exposed in the hack.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the Wired<\/em> article, the MSG database assigned a risk score to various celebrities who might attend the arena, ranging from \u201clow risk\u201d to \u201cDO NOT HOST.\u201d It detailed many music stars on the list, including several of Taylor Swift\u2019s wedding guests. The article also reported that roughly 100 of the 40,000 people on the list were given the LGBTQIA tag \u2013 and that the reason for the label was \u201cunclear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn its lawsuit on Thursday, MSG said that element of the story and a \u201csensational headline\u201d at the top were intended to create a \u201cfalse implication\u201d about \u201cLGBTQIA surveillance, risk, and discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis case is about defendants\u2019 decision to transform inclusion into exclusion,\u201d the company\u2019s lawyers write. \u201cDefendants\u2019 article and its promotion falsely implied that MSG maintains sexual orientation information to identify, track, rank, exclude, or discriminate against LGBTQIA celebrities, artists, guests, fans, and patrons because of their sexual orientation or gender identity when the opposite is true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit also names Wired<\/em> owner Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. as a defendant, as well as contributing editor Noah Shachtman, co-author Maddy Varner, and global editorial director Katie Drummond over their roles in the story\u2019s publication.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe case took particular aim at Shachtman, citing a previous incident<\/a> in which he reportedly omitted key facts about an FBI investigation into child sexual abuse material from a story on a person with whom he had personal relationship: \u201cThis is not the first time Wired<\/em> or Shachtman have shaped their \u2018reporting\u2019 to fit a predetermined narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDefamation cases filed by powerful public figures or corporations are often difficult to win under U.S. law. An entity like MSG must prove that Wired<\/em>\u2018s story was not only false, but that the publication ran the story with so-called actual malice \u2014 meaning it either knew the story was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. That is an intentionally difficult standard to meet, designed to prevent the use of the court system to restrict free speech.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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