(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Jim Dolan had me kicked out of a concert—his concert.
This wasn’t Madison Square Garden, the famous venue he owns and usually tosses people out of, but rather the Paramount, a small theater in Huntington, Long Island, where Dolan’s country-rock-blues band, JD & the Straight Shot, was second on a three-act bill. I was on assignment for Bloomberg Businessweek, which was working on an article about Dolan’s tenure as principal owner of Madison Square Garden Co. and the New York Knicks. (Dolan had declined to talk to the magazine for the story.) In the NBA, no current owner has fared worse recently—or endured an offseason as cruel as the current one. The magazine’s editors asked me to contribute a few sentences about the lesser-known Dolan—“JD,” frontman and lead guitarist. I bought a $38 ticket to see for myself.
Dolan has played with the band, whose other members have performed with artists like Sheryl Crow and Dolly Parton, for more than a decade. They’ve released seven albums and opened for prominent acts such as Jewel and the Eagles—the latter at the Garden (it helps to know people). I arrived early for the Paramount show, so there were only a few dozen people around. I didn’t anticipate seeing Dolan anywhere other than on stage, but suddenly there he was during the first act, sipping tea out of a mug just like the one I could have bought for $15 at the merch table. I approached him and identified myself as a Bloomberg journalist.
He was not happy that a reporter had come to see his show. He said he hadn’t authorized an interview and that I wasn’t allowed to be there—despite this being a public show in a public venue—and repeatedly insisted that his music was not about him and therefore should not be mentioned in the article (an article about a CEO whose company happens to run one of the world’s most significant music venues). At one point, he flipped my notebook closed. Finally he stormed off and summoned security guards to make me leave. When I protested, one of them offered me cash to cover the cost of my ticket. He said that while removing reporters was not the venue’s policy, Dolan was the headliner and could make such requests. Actually, Matt Costa played last. Sorry to have missed you, Matt.
I declined the cash and was escorted through the lobby and out to the curb. Later I contacted MSG to ask for comment about the incident. A spokesperson for the company asked that the following statement be included in the story, in its entirety: “The reporter was there to write a story about the Knicks. The Knicks were not playing that evening.”
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