New York Knicks Ban Woody Allen From VIP Lounge


Sick of limiting their terrible decisions to the basketball court, the New York Post's Page Six is reporting that the Knicks have decided to extend their Portfolio de Suck in a new, groundbreaking way: Banning legendary director, writer, and oh ya, lifelong New York Knicks supporter, Woody Allen from their VIP Lounge.

Now I know what you're thinking; "Wait a minute, Matt. This is the New York Knicks we're talking about. Surely there's a logical explanation to why they're banning one of their two most famous fans"

Sources say [Knicks owner James] Dolan had the Oscar-winning director banned from Suite 200, the VIP lounge at Madison Square Garden, after Allen refused to do any promotion for MSG Network or the Garden of Dreams Foundation.

Allen had been a regular for years in the suite, where models, pop stars and pro athletes gather before games and at halftime for free drinks and food.

“He got a call from someone at MSG saying they had bought the rights to air several of Woody’s movies on the MSG channel and wanted Woody to go on the air and talk about his movies or introduce them,” a Woody source told me.

“Woody said he would not be comfortable doing that. He has never done that for any show or network.

They then said that this was a ‘reciprocal arrangement’ and that if Woody couldn’t go on TV for them, he should not eat in their VIP restaurant anymore.

Woody said fine and thanked them for the many years he had enjoyed the space there.”

Ah, of course. The notoriously extroverted, self-promotion machine that is Woody Allen is willing to put his name on just about anything, but he's not willing to sit down with the MSG Network to help the little guy out. Presumably to focus on creating his own vodka line, finding his way onto 'Entourage: The Movie', or perhaps lining up on-screen sponsors for the highly anticipated sequel to 'Midnight in Paris' tentatively titled 'Midnight in Paris 2: After Midnight"

Of course, I kid. Clearly without any special promotion included in the purchase of the movies, this is a bit like ordering a steak from a restaurant, then throwing a tantrum if the chef wouldn't come out and explain his every cooking decision. You know, provided that the chef was a notorious introvert who detests talking about himself.

And as Eric Freeman of Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie points out, you almost have to wonder if blues guitarist / team owner James Dolan was looking for a reason to give Woody Allen - who has literally spent over 60 years of his professional career doing his best to avoid interviews, advertisements, and really anything outside of writing/directing - the boot. Perhaps the obvious is the answer: Allen, was simply just not funky enough for JD.

Just another reason to thank your lucky stars you root for the green. An organization that knows a thing or two about treating a-list celebrities right.

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