MSG defends use of facial recognition to kick Rockettes' show lawyer

Expand Steve Zak Photography / Contributor | Getty Images North America

When Kelly Conlon joined her daughter's Girl Scout troop for a fun outing to see the Rockettes perform their show Christmas Spectacular at New York's Radio City Music Hall, she had no idea that she would end up being kicked out of the show once she entered the building.

Security arrested Conlon, NBC New York reported, because she is a lawyer in New Jersey. It appears that Madison Square Garden Entertainment has started using facial recognition technology to identify any visitor to any of its sites, including Radio City Music Hall, who is involved with a law firm actively involved in litigation. against MSG Entertainment.

Conlon has never practiced law in New York City nor been personally involved in litigation against MSG Entertainment. Instead, she's guilty by association, as an associate of Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, who spent years in litigation against a restaurant that NBC says is "now under the MSG Entertainment umbrella." .

According to Conlon, she became aware of this supposed conflict of interest when security guards approached her in the lobby of Radio City Music Hall just as she was going through the metal detector. Over the loudspeakers, Conlon heard a warning about a woman wearing a gray scarf, then security confirmed that the warning was for her, telling him, "Our recognition got you."

Although Conlon assured security that "I am not a lawyer who works on cases against MSG", she was escorted away. Ars could not immediately reach MSG for comment, but in a statement, MSG said the same would "happen to a lawyer involved in his firm, saying his firm was 'twice informed' of MSG policy. [Update: MSG declined Ars' request for further comment.]

"MSG has instituted a straightforward policy that bars attorneys with active litigation against the company from attending events at our sites until that litigation is resolved," the statement provided to NBC reads. "While we understand that this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently unfavorable environment."

A New York Times report suggests that MSG started using facial recognition technology in 2018 to “enhance security.” MSG sites display signs to inform visitors that the technology is being used. Ars couldn't immediately contact Conlon for comment, but told NBC she posed no threat on the Rockettes' show, insisting, "I was just a mom taking my daughter to see a Christmas pageant." She described her experience as "embarrassing" and "mortifying".

Instead of attending the festive spectacle with his daughter, Conlon waited outside. NBC reported that others who were blacklisted have sued MSG over the policy, seeing it as MSG's way of punishing law firms that go after the entertainment titan. So far, one company has fought and won in court, becoming the only exception to the policy, but MSG is still appealing that decision.