Source: Andrew Toth / Getty
Could New York Knicks owner James Dolan be the next NBA franchise boss forced to sell the team by Commissioner Adam Silver?
We doubt it as Knicks fans have never seen their dreams come to fruition (championships, signing LeBron, etc.), but the loathed owner of New York’s favorite basketball team is facing some serious allegations. Both Dolan and Harvey Weinstein have been slapped with a lawsuit alleging they sexually assaulted a masseuse a decade ago. According to CNN, Kellye Croft filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday (Jan. 16), in which she claims that James Dolan forced her into unwanted sexual intercourse with him while she was giving him a massage in 2013.
Croft says she met Dolan while on tour with the Eagles. The then 23-year-old life’s changed when the Knicks owner got out of pocket and allegedly coerced her into doing something that left her scarred for life.
CNN reports:
While getting a massage, “Dolan pulled Ms. Croft towards him,” the lawsuit claims. “Ms. Croft tried to bring the massage to an end, but Dolan proceeded to come on even stronger, treating Ms. Croft’s resistance as part of a challenge or a game. Dolan then grabbed Ms. Croft’s hands, dragging her to a couch in the same room and forcing her hands between his knees as he sat down. Ms. Croft was adamant that she did not want to have any sexual interactions with Dolan, who was married at the time and over thirty years older than Ms. Croft.”
“She felt disgusted and terrified of the situation, but the extreme isolation she felt from others on the tour, coupled with Dolan’s attention to her, his assertions that he would take care of her, and her recognition that this man held immense power over everyone’s position on the tour—including hers—led her to submit to Dolan’s advances,” the lawsuit states.
But it didn’t end there. Croft also alleges that Dolan set up a meeting between herself and disgraced Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein in a hotel where the convicted rapist sexually assaulted her as well.
Both Dolan and Weinstein have denied the allegations with Dolan saying he considered Croft a “good person and is surprised she would agree to these claims.”
Croft is seeking both monetary and punitive damages, saying the encounters left her traumatized to the point that she couldn’t speak about the incidents for years.
More from CNN:
“I have suffered so profoundly because of what James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein did to me years ago, and it was not an easy decision to come forward and seek justice. But for me, to truly address my trauma, I need to seek accountability,” Croft said in a statement to CNN. ”My hope is that my lawsuit will force Dolan to acknowledge what he did to me and to take responsibility for the harm he has caused.”
Don’t be surprised if this gets settled out of court as Dolan wouldn’t want any of his dirty laundry being aired in public.
What do y’all think of the situation? Should Adam Silver force Dolan to sell the team should these allegations prove true? Let us know in the comments section below.
Knicks Owner James Dolan & Harvey Weinstein Hit With Sexual Assault Lawsuit was originally published on hiphopwired.com
