A California district judge has dismissed massage therapist Kellye Croft’s lawsuit against James Dolan in which she accuses the New York Knicks owner of sexually assaulting her and trafficking her to disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein nearly a decade ago.
Judge Percy Anderson made the decision on Tuesday, stating Croft’s suit, which was filed in January, failed to “plausibly allege a commercial sex act
— that anything of value was provided to Plaintiff in exchange for her engaging in the alleged sexual relationship with Dolan.”
In her initial civil suit, Croft stated she was hired in 2013 to be the official massage therapist for Glenn Frey, the late singer for the Eagles, who were launching a tour largely funded by Dolan. Croft says the Madison Square Garden magnate leveraged his power and influence to initiate sexual contact; flew her around the country for his “lewd desires” in what she claims was human trafficking; and set her up for an encounter with Weinstein that ended in rape.
“The FAC (First Amended Complaint) had relied on allegations that Dolan paid for Plaintiff to join the tour using the ‘JD’ (James Dolan) credit card that the Azoff Defendants gave her ‘venue pay’ as the ‘things of value.’ The Court found those insufficient to allege a commercial sex act under the [Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act] TVPRA because there was no alleged casual connection between the payment of Plaintiff’s travel expenses and ‘venue pay’ and the relationship.”
In addition, the judge declined to exercise any other jurisdiction related to Croft’s “remaining state law causes of action.”
In a statement, Croft’s legal team said it disagrees with the decision, which it said “incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors. … We will be appealing this decision and are confident that the Court of Appeals will correct this injustice. We will also continue to pursue Ms. Croft’s sexual battery claims against James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein, which remain unaffected by the decision. Our fight for Ms. Croft is just beginning.”
Croft’s original complaint stated she was a 27-year-old licensed massage therapist when Dolan, then 58, was opening for the Eagles with his band JD & The Straight Shot. They met in the context of her being hired for a professional massage, but Croft says she was manipulated into a series of sexual encounters with Dolan that continued when she was flown to Los Angeles in 2014 for “his sexual gratification.”
A few days into the trip, the lawsuit said Croft returned to her hotel room to find Harvey Weinstein – whom she had not met prior – who struck up a conversation and invited her to his room to talk about working as a masseuse on film productions. From there, Croft says Weinstein changed into a bathrobe, tried to intimidate her into a naked massage, then pursued her back to her room where he forcibly penetrated her.
Weinstein, now 71, is serving a 16-year sentence in California, and was re-indicted last week on rape charges in New York that were dismissed by an appeals court after his conviction.
