NY Knicks Owner James Dolan Taps Ex-Trump Aide Hope Hicks For Madison Square Garden PR – Report

New York Knicks owner James Dolan has reportedly hired Hope Hicks to help the public relations department at Madison Square Garden.

Hicks worked as former President Donald Trump‘s White House Communications Director from 2017-2018 and served as a Counselor to the President from 2020-2021.

Dolan has been under heavy scrutiny after he used facial recognition to identify and remove individuals from his properties. Some of those who were blacklisted were lawyers working for law firms with cases against Dolan.

According to the New York Post, Dolan reportedly hired Hicks to help with public relations surrounding that controversial act.

MSG Entertainment (Madison Square Garden) was fairly tight-lipped in response to questions about hiring Hicks. “We work with a variety of consultants,” an spokesperson told the Post.

In January, New York state lawmakers introduced a bill to ban Madison Square Garden Entertainment from using facial recognition to boot fans.

The New York State Liquor Authority threatened to revoke Dolan’s liquor license from his MSG properties after he banned the lawyers with facial recognition technology. In return, Dolan posed his own threat; he would ban the sale of alcohol at one New York Rangers game and hang up a sign with the contact information of the NYSLA’s CEO, Sharif Kabir.

In an interview with Fox 5 New York’s Rossana Scotto, Dolan said, “We’re going to put one of these up which says, ‘if you would like to drink at a game, please call Sharif Kabir,’ And tell him to stick to his knitting and to what he’s supposed to be doing. Stop grandstanding and trying to get press.”

Dolan also blasted government and city officials and thinks they should focus on more significant problems in New York City.

“What really needs to happen is the public needs to tell these politicians and the SLA to start working on the things that matter to us,” Dolan continued. “Like law enforcement, making it safe in our streets. Getting our taxes in line. Stop people from leaving New York and ruining our city.”