Madison Square Garden maintained a confidential "risk list" that categorized musicians, celebrities, and performers by perceived threat level while also tracking sexual orientation, according to a recent report. The list included country star Morgan Wallen, actor Ben Stiller, and pop singer Selena Gomez among those flagged with risk designations.
The venue's security operations compiled this database apparently for entry screening and event management purposes. However, the inclusion of sexual orientation data raises significant privacy and discrimination concerns. Artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Ricky Martin appeared on the list for reasons that remain unexplained and troubling.
The revelation emerges at a time when major venues face increasing scrutiny over security protocols and data collection practices. Madison Square Garden operates as one of North America's most prominent entertainment spaces, hosting everything from concerts to sporting events and award shows. The venue's parent company, The Madison Square Garden Company, oversees a sprawling entertainment empire.
The specifics of how performers landed on the risk list remain murky. Whether inclusion stemmed from past incidents, security concerns, or subjective judgments about individual artists differs from case to case. The tracking of sexual orientation in such a system suggests the venue may have applied demographic profiling to its security assessments, a practice most major institutions have abandoned or heavily restricted.
This report joins a growing body of evidence about how entertainment venues, tech platforms, and corporations collect and weaponize personal data about public figures. The practice raises questions about consent, accuracy, and the criteria used to determine "risk." For artists already navigating privacy violations and surveillance in the digital age, the existence of such lists underscores how vulnerable performers remain even within supposedly secure professional environments.
The incident may prompt regulatory discussions about what data venues can legally collect, store, and act upon regarding the people they serve.