Madison Square Garden in New York would have classified its guests based on sexual orientation, racial identity and “risk” levels. THE talent contained in the MSG database would be almost 40 thousand musicians, actors, politicians, athletes, entrepreneurs.
The database was apparently released last month by ShinyHunters, a hacker collective, and picked up by 404 Media and then by Wired. Phoebe Bridgers, Ricky Martin, Geese's Emily Green and 90 other people were labeled LGBTQIA in the database. Ethnicity and gender identity were also noted for some celebrities.
Then there are celebrities considered at risk, it is not clear in what sense, such as Freddie Gibbs, Lil Jon, DaBaby, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. They would be at high risk, while Morgan Wallen, Lily Allen, Jadakiss, Anna Wintour would be at medium risk and Ice Spice, Selena Gomez, Ben Stiller and Benson Boone would be at low risk. The risk labels would be associated with 400 celebrities. According to a source consulted by Wiredbeing at risk means having done something, even on social media, that “attracted the attention of the wrong people”. It is not necessary that something serious has happened, «you can also have simply expressed a criticism towards the team or the venue, you can have written that you had problems getting in and that you didn't like the way you were treated at the entrance at all».
Among the people who reacted to the news, Freddie Gibbs (“What the fuck do I have to do with this story?”, he wrote on He is also CEO of MSG Sports, which controls the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, and of Sphere Entertainment, the company behind the Sphere in Las Vegas.
In the past, Madison Square Garden management has also been criticized for surveillance practices that include scanning people's faces upon entry. At this link an open letter from Tom Morello on facial recognition at concerts: «As dangerous as the atomic bomb».
