A lawsuit against James Dolan from his former massage therapist, who advanced sex trafficking claims and accused him of orchestrating an encounter with Harvey Weinstein that led to a sexual assault, has been dismissed.
In the complaint filed in January in California federal court, Kellye Croft said she met Dolan in 2013 as an employee on the Eagles’ tour. Dolan’s band, JD & The Straight Shot, was the opening act through his ties with the classic rock group’s management company, Azoff Music Management. According to the suit, the MSG Entertainment owner in 2014 initiated a sexual relationship with Croft. She alleged she was trafficked across the country “under fraudulent pretenses for [him] to engage in unlawful and unwelcome sex acts with her.”
Kevin Mintzer and Meredith Firetog, lawyers for Croft, said in a statement that they’ll appeal the decision. “We respectfully disagree with the District Court’s decision, which we believe incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors,” they added. “We will also continue to pursue Ms. Croft’s sexual battery claims against James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein, which remain unaffected by the decision.”
A representative for Dolan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dismissal of the lawsuit swung on whether Croft should be allowed to pursue her sex trafficking claim, which revolved around arguments that she was transported across state lines under fraudulent purposes to provide sexual favors to Dolan. Croft alleged that Azoff Music Management, at his request, lied to her that she was needed for massage services for the Eagles when, in reality, she was placed at Dolan’s hotel to facilitate sexual encounters with him.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson found that the lawsuit failed to sufficiently allege a commercial sex act, “that anything of value was provided to Plaintiff in exchange for her engaging in the alleged sexual relationship with Dolan.”
In exchange for sex, Croft had argued that she was paid $8,400 from Dolan’s tour manager, a round trip plane ticket and a multi-night stay at a luxury hotel.
The court said she received those benefits because she was hired on the tour as a masseuse.
With dismissal of the sex trafficking claim, allegations over sexual battery and aiding Weinstein’s assault of Croft were also tossed because the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over state law claims.
The complaint also named MSG Entertainment and the Azoff Company, which managed the Eagles and The Straight Shot. Croft claimed the company, as well as other corporate defendants, perpetrated sex trafficking by “transporting her to California for the purposes of providing sexual favors.” Dolan was a “critically important business partner” after Madison Square Garden invested $175 million in Azoff MSG Entertainment and served as a funding source for the Eagles 2014 tour, the lawsuit said.
Read the full article here