Knicks Owner James Dolan Named in Weinstein Suit

Knicks owner James Dolan and Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry have been named as defendants in a civil lawsuit against disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, according to multiple reports.

The suit, which was filed by six women who said they were assaulted and/or harassed by Weinstein, alleges that Dolan and Lasry — both of whom were former members of the Weinstein Company’s board of directors — knew of Weinstein’s “pattern and practice of predatory sexual conduct toward women.” The suit is filed against Weinstein, Miramax, the Weinstein Company, and the Weinstein Company’s board of directors.

Dolan was part of the board from mid-2015 to June 2016, while Lasry was part of the board for a little over a year, from the middle of 2016 to October 2017. Dolan left the board in 2016 because of his daily business responsibilities and personal commitments, according to reports.

Weinstein has recently been the subject of numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Amid investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker into Weinstein’s decades-long history of alleged predation and how he had silenced accusers, the mogul was fired by the company that bears his name. Accusations of sexual misconduct, against Weinstein and other prominent media and political figures, have continued to surface ever since.

Dolan, the executive chairman of Madison Square Garden and owner of the New York Rangers, has been embroiled in a sexual misconduct suit before. In 2007, both Dolan and his company were ordered to pay out $11.6 million in punitive damages after a jury ruled that former Knicks coach and current New York Liberty president Isiah Thomas had sexually harassed a former team executive and then fired her when she refused his advances.

Lasry was part of the hedge fund group that bought the Bucks in 2014. He is set to take over the team’s governor role from co-owner Wes Edens in 2019.