Madison Sq. Backyard has tapped a high-profile spin physician to assist chairman James Dolan deflect criticism of his use of facial recognition expertise.
Dolan employed former Trump White Home communications director Hope Hicks as a marketing consultant on the World’s Most Well-known Enviornment, after it was revealed he used the controversial expertise besides followers crucial of him, sources advised Web page Six on Monday.
An MSG Leisure spokesperson didn’t deny the report, saying, “We work with a wide range of consultants.” The Submit had reached out to Hicks for remark.
Hicks, 34, resigned from the Trump administration in 2018 to work as Fox Company’s chief communications govt, earlier than returning to the White Home as an adviser proper earlier than the pandemic.
It was unclear how lengthy she had been advising Dolan, who was a significant Trump donor, according to Albany Business Review.
Dolan has come beneath hearth for eradicating attorneys concerned in litigation towards his firm from the Backyard and Radio Metropolis Music Corridor, and disinviting a lawmaker crucial of his use of the expertise of an NHL Pleasure occasion.
State Lawyer Basic Letitia James claimed Dolan’s use of the expertise may violate state anti-discrimination legal guidelines, and the New York State Liquor Authority was investigating the difficulty.
Dolan, 67, fired again at critics by threatening to not promote alcohol at a future Rangers sport as a protest.
“What we’re gonna do, proper, is we’re gonna decide an evening, perhaps a Rangers sport, and we’re gonna shut down all of the liquor and alcohol within the constructing,” Dolan mentioned in an interview on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
“This isn’t gonna hassle me as a result of I’ve been sober 29 years. I don’t want the liquor.”
Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has referred to as for the NBA and NHL to sanction the billionaire bluesman as Albany lawmakers thought of a legislation that may make his retaliation ways unlawful.