Eagles' Massage Therapist Accuses 'Brutish' Knicks Owner James Dolan of Sexual Assault - The Daily Beast

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A former massage therapist for legendary rock band the Eagles claims she was coerced into having unwanted sex with billionaire New York Knicks owner James Dolan, who then allegedly trafficked her cross-country and set her up to be further assaulted by convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Kellye Croft, 38, says the “brutish” MSG Sports and MSG Entertainment mogul, who Croft describes in the filing as a “mediocre” singer-songwriter, preyed upon her some 10 years ago “for his own sexual gratification,” before passing her off to a known predator. Dolan, who was married at the time, led Croft to believe that he wanted “something more than merely satisfying his desire to have a sex-fueled ‘rock star’ experience on the road,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Croft’s youthful naivete led her to believe, at the time, that Dolan actually cared about her.”

Instead, he left her traumatized and broken, according to Croft’s lawsuit, which says she developed a substance abuse problem trying to “assuage her feelings of shame and guilt for getting roped into Dolan’s manipulations.”

“Tragically, Ms. Croft has since abandoned her lifelong love of massage therapy,” the lawsuit says. “She is unable to engage in the healing physical practice that she cared so deeply for, as now it carries all of the pain and devastation caused by Dolan and Weinstein.”

In an emailed statement shared by attorney Douglas Wigdor, Croft said bringing the suit was a difficult decision.

“But for me, to truly address my trauma, I need to seek accountability,” she said. “James Dolan manipulated me, brought me to California to abuse me, and then set me up for a vicious attack by Weinstein. 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.”

Dolan’s attorney, E. Danya Perry, said in her own emailed statement that there is “absolutely no merit to any of the allegations against Mr. Dolan.”

“Kellye Croft and James Dolan had a friendship,” Perry said. “The references to Harvey Weinstein are simply meant to inflame and appear to be plagiarized from prior cases against Mr. Weinstein. These claims reflect an act of retaliation by an attorney who has brought multiple cases against Mr. Dolan and has not won, and cannot win, a judgment against him. Mr. Dolan always believed Ms. Croft to be a good person and is surprised she would agree to these claims. Bottom line, this is not a he said/she said matter and there is compelling evidence to back up our position. We look forward to proving that in court.”

Weinstein’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in an email that the disgraced Miramax co-founder “vehemently denies these meritless allegations and looks forward to litigating these claims in a court of law where the truth will be revealed.”

Dolan (left) and Weinstein in 2005.

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California​

Croft’s accusations can be traced back to October 2013, when she received an offer to serve as late Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey’s personal massage therapist on a leg of the band’s “History of the Eagles–Live in Concert” tour, according to the lawsuit. Then in her mid-20s, the Tennessee native believed this was “her big break, and the opportunity of a lifetime,” the suit states.

Things went well enough that Eagles tour manager Tom Golseth asked Croft to join the band on tour dates the following month in North Carolina, Alabama, and Florida, the suit goes on. She was happy to be working in her chosen field, and found life on the road exciting, the suit says. At the same time, she was “overwhelmed” by it, and didn’t really know anyone else on the crew.

“The experience became even more lonely and stressful for Ms. Croft when she got into a disagreement with Golseth, who had inappropriately chastised her and embarrassed her in front of other tour members,” the lawsuit continues. “To make matters worse, soon after these interactions took place, Golseth was fired from the Eagles tour.”

Reached by phone on Tuesday, Golseth told The Daily Beast that he doesn’t “have any memory of ‘chastising’” Croft, who he described as “a very sweet girl but… very naive.”

Golseth did remember the situation at issue, which he said involved another person who was “alleged to have done something inappropriate,” but said he didn’t want to “name names.”

“All I did was try to help her, having worked with many artists over the years,” Golseth said. “The Eagles were a very difficult situation to navigate, operationally-wise. They are an organization of not just the egos of the artists themselves, but they’re surrounded by people who have been around since the 1970s. Anybody new to that organization was not going to have an easy time… It just [reinforces] the term, ‘No good deed goes unpunished.”

Golseth parted ways with the Eagles in late November 2013, he said, declining to comment on Dolan, pointing to his “powerful” friends.

After Golseth left the tour, Croft’s lawsuit says she “became completely ostracized from other tour members, who believed she was the reason for [his] firing.”

Eagles management gave Croft permission to fill any open slots by booking massages with others on the tour, and at one point she happened to hand a business card to Dolan, the suit states. Dolan, it claims, had helped finance the string of dates in exchange for letting his “mediocre band” serve as opening act. Croft had never heard of Dolan, and was unaware of his “immense wealth, power, and influence,” according to the lawsuit. A few days later, Dolan scheduled his first massage with Croft, who says she was “visibly distracted” over what happened with Golseth.

After explaining her feelings to Dolan, he assured her that things would be “taken care of,” the suit says. A short time later, Glenn Frey called Croft and “apologized repeatedly and profusely to her for the situation with Golseth,” which Croft says seemed “extremely out of character” for the guitarist.

During Dolan’s second massage with Croft, he made clear that he was the one who had Frey apologize, the lawsuit continues. And that’s when Croft “began to understand the power Dolan had,” it states.

Dolan (left) and Weinstein in 2014.

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California​

“Towards the end of the massage, Dolan pulled Ms. Croft towards him,” the suit says. “She tried to push away, stating that she was very uncomfortable and that she took her job as a masseuse very seriously and that she wanted to remain professional. 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 “pressured Ms. Croft into unwanted sexual intercourse with him,” according to the lawsuit. It says Croft felt “disgusted and terrified,” but that she was lonely and intimidated by Dolan’s clout. He continued to “make unwelcome advances” for the remainder of the tour, and Croft claims she felt “obligated to submit.”

“Dolan was extremely manipulative, constantly reminding Ms. Croft of the way he ‘fixed’ the situation with Golseth for her,” the lawsuit states. “... Ms. Croft was disgusted by Dolan, but her youth and extreme loneliness while on the road with strangers, as well as Dolan’s immense power, made it possible for Dolan to manipulate Ms. Croft and lure her under his control.”

At the end of 2013, Croft was sent to join the Eagles tour in Los Angeles, according to her suit. This time, she was flown out on Dolan’s dime, which Croft says she found unusual. Croft was put up at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, apart from the Eagles and other band staff, but at the same hotel as Dolan and his band, according to the suit. There, it alleges, Dolan orchestrated a “chance” meeting between Croft and Harvey Weinstein while waiting for an elevator.

Weinstein lured Croft to his room with promises of massage work around Hollywood, which turned ugly when Weinstein, naked but for a bathrobe, demanded she try on clothes for him, and urged her to massage him on the bed, which Croft declined to do without a proper table. Weinstein became “very angry,” according to the lawsuit, which claims he then blocked the door to prevent her from leaving. Once she managed to get away, Weinstein chased her down the hallway and forced his way into Croft’s room, where he “shoved his fingers inside of her, using his other hand to hold her down,” the lawsuit states. “He tried to force his penis inside of her, although he struggled to do so.”

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California​

Amid the ongoing attack, Dolan called Croft on the room phone, according to the suit.

“After hearing her speak to Dolan, Weinstein backed off of Ms. Croft,” it says. “He then stated to her, ‘Well, you know Jim and I are best friends. He’s going to be very disappointed that you led me on, this won’t look good for you.’”

Once Weinstein left, Croft went to Dolan’s room and told him what had happened. He was unmoved, the suit states, telling Croft that Weinstein “was ‘a troubled person,’” and that his friends were attempting to “get him to address [his] issues.”

“Dolan was not at all surprised by the fact that Ms. Croft had ‘randomly’ happened to meet one of his ‘best friends’ at the hotel,” according to the suit. “Nor, incredibly, did Dolan express any surprise at the news that Weinstein was ‘sexually aggressive’ with Ms. Croft… Dolan intimated that Weinstein was not a ‘safe’ person but did little to console Ms. Croft or help her to report the assault to the authorities.”

Consumed with “shame and disgust,” Croft left the tour and flew back to Tennessee, the suit says. Her family and friends noticed something different about her, that she “was no longer as happy and energetic as she used to be,” according to the suit. Giving massages now triggered panic attacks, and Croft says she often found herself crying uncontrollably.

“To cope with the incessant stress and horrific memories of the tour, Ms. Croft turned to drugs and alcohol to forget about the assault and to assuage her feelings of shame and guilt for getting roped into Dolan’s manipulations,” the lawsuit states. “Her substance use turned to abuse, and she later required extensive rehabilitation to cope with her depression and the related substance use.”

Croft subsequently “struggled to form healthy relationships with men,” and soon left the industry, according to the suit.

In 2018, Dolan sent an email out to friends and associates, sharing a new song of his, the lawsuit says. In the lyrics, Dolan lamented the fact that he “should’ve known” about Weinstein’s “vile attacks,” which he publicly claimed to have known nothing about at the time. Croft, who was on the recipient list, says in her suit that she listened to the song and was “horrified—not just by the mediocrity of Dolan’s music, but moreover by the blatant lie the song told.”

“In short, by claiming that he ‘should’ve known,’ James Dolan doth protest too much,” the suit says.

In a statement of his own, Croft lawyer Douglas Wigdor said Dolan has long managed to “dodge repeated issues concerning his judgment and character.”

“With the filing of today’s complaint,” Wigdor said, “it is time to finally hold Dolan accountable for his outrageous conduct.”

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