MSG breach allegedly exposed celebrity risk list and host blacklist

A leaked Madison Square Garden database held 39,539 talent entries and sorted celebrities into low, medium and high risk while flagging at least 93 people as LGBTQIA and some as "DO NOT HOST." The file also included race and gender identity fields, though those fields were not consistently populated, putting private identity data inside the same internal system that evaluated who could appear at the arena.

The risk scores covered about 400 celebrities. Phoebe Bridgers, Ricky Martin and Geese guitarist Emily Green were flagged as LGBTQIA. Freddie Gibbs, Lil Jon, DaBaby and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie were labeled high risk, while Morgan Wallen, Lily Allen and Jadakiss were marked medium risk. Ice Spice, Selena Gomez and Benson Boone were listed as low risk.

Some records carried a "DO NOT HOST" label, and rapper-producer DJ Pete Rock said he believed his own status was tied to his past criticism of James Dolan after Charles Oakley was forcibly removed from the venue. MSG said the reporting was "inaccurate and false" and said it was pursuing legal remedies. The company did not address why celebrity files would include sexuality, race, gender identity and risk markers in the first place, or how widely the system was used across Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Beacon Theatre and The Chicago Theatre.

The leak has also been linked to ShinyHunters, which used voice phishing to gain access to MSG systems and published stolen data in mid-June 2026. The stolen cache totaled about 45 gigabytes, with hackers claiming it covered up to 26 million people. At least three proposed class-action lawsuits have already been filed in federal court.

Madison Square Garden used facial-recognition technology and internal watch lists to monitor attendees. James Dolan runs Madison Square Garden Entertainment, MSG Sports and Sphere Entertainment.