LOS ANGELES — A woman has alleged that New York Knicks owner James Dolan sexually assaulted her a decade ago and then set her up to be molested by now-imprisoned film producer Harvey Weinstein, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles.
In 2013, plaintiff Kellye Croft was a 27-year-old licensed massage therapist working on a tour for The Eagles. Dolan’s band, JD & The Straight Shot, opened for the rock band. Dolan, who was 58 at the time, allegedly used his power and influence on the tour to repeatedly manipulate and pressure Croft “to submit to sex with him,” the lawsuit states.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly or consent to being identified, as Croft has done.
When the tour traveled to Los Angeles, Dolan flew Croft there even though almost no tour members signed up for massage appointments, the lawsuit states. Dolan then continued to “sexually exploit” her and orchestrated a seemingly random meeting between Croft and Weinstein, a friend of his, in a hotel elevator in early 2014, the suit alleges.
Weinstein offered her opportunities to work on film sets, according to the lawsuit, and changed into a loosely tied bathrobe in his suite and asked Croft to give him a massage.
She felt uncomfortable and left the suite, but Weinstein, still in the bathrobe, followed her, the suit charges. He forced his way into her hotel room and sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit states. When she told Dolan of the alleged attack, he neither seemed surprised nor offered to help her report the assault to police, she alleges.
Croft alleges that Dolan knew about Weinstein’s misconduct toward women and told her “we all know” that Weinstein “has problems.”
“Indeed, with his comments, Ms. Croft felt that Dolan completely dismissed the gravity of the situation and did not truly care about what his friend had done to her,” the suit states.
Dolan was a member of the…
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