James L. Dolan

Dolan is one of six children of Cablevision founder Charles Dolan and his wife, Helen Ann Dolan, and nephew of Cleveland Guardians owner Larry J. Dolan. He is of Irish descent. After originally pursuing a career in music, Dolan eventually switched to a major in communications at SUNY New Paltz and began working for Cablevision in various capacities including sales before eventually being dispatched to Cleveland by his father to manage the launching of a sports radio station. In 1995, he was made CEO of Cablevision. Throughout his early adult life, Dolan battled drug and alcohol problems and was reportedly known for having a volatile temper. In 1993, he went to drug rehabilitation at the Hazelden clinic in Center City, Minnesota.

Dolan opposed his father's proposed Voom satellite service, which became a polarizing controversy among Cablevision's board of directors. While supporters argued Voom could propel Cablevision into the future emerging satellite market and a wider customer base, opponents of the plan, including James Dolan, argued it was too expensive with no expense relief for the foreseeable future. In the end, the younger Dolan prevailed and Voom was shut down. This was an instrumental event in Dolan emerging from his father's shadow, albeit reluctantly, as a viable businessman.

His business career has included multiple failures, which include purchasing the failing Wiz electronics and entertainment chain, which ended up posting losses of $250 million before being liquidated, and the Clearview Cinemas chain which failed to generate any significant revenue.

As of 2023, Dolan lived on Long Island with his wife Kristin, whom he married at Mar-a-Lago in 2002. They separated in 2018 and she was named chief executive officer of AMC Networks in 2023. Dolan has been married twice and has six sons. His son Charlie is the bassist of the band Tauk. His son Quentin is on the board of directors for MSG Entertainment and works for several of the family's other business ventures.

Dolan played a role in organizing the 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief benefit, which raised an initial $50 million for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Hobbies

Dolan performs as the singer for JD & the Straight Shot, a country blues and roots rock vanity project he formed in 2001. Notable members of the band include Marc Copely, Shawn Pelton, and Carolyn Dawn Johnson; the band's seventh studio album The Great Divide was released in March 2019.

Because of his corporate status and his friendship and business relationship with entertainment executive Irving Azoff, Dolan has been able to leverage JD & the Straight Shot onto shows by the Eagles, the Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top, Jewel, Keith Urban, the Chicks, Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph. Attendance by Madison Square Garden staff employees "is expected and noted" when the group plays at New York clubs.

The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles described the band as a group of "well-known sidemen backing a karaoke grade singer", and said Dolan's "musical talents are unlikely to endanger his day job". After the group's performance opening for ZZ Top, one reviewer wrote that Dolan's "enthusiasm for playing mediocre American rock did little to make their forgettable performance entertaining". After a 2017 show in New York City, another reviewer observed that Dolan "sings like he's trying not to cough, and it's possible he can't play the guitar. Worse, his songs belie his status as a cosplaying bluesman; most of his lyrics simply summarize current events or books that he's read as if he were presenting a 10th grade English class project."

Political activities

In 2016, he contributed $300,000 to the Trump Victory Committee in support of the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Trump and Dolan describe each other as friends. Dolan is a member at his Mar-a-Lago club and held his wedding there in 2002. He donated $50,000 to Nicole Malliotakis in 2020 after incumbent Max Rose criticized Dolan's management of the Knicks. In the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, he donated $5,000 to Ray McGuire and $2,000 to Eric Adams.

Sexual assault lawsuit

On January 16, 2024, a sexual assault lawsuit was filed against Dolan in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Kellye Croft. Croft stated that she was employed by the Eagles as a massage therapist during the band's History of the Eagles – Live in Concert tour, for which JD & the Straight Shot opened shows, in 2013; Dolan was believed to have provided a large sum of money for the tour as well. Croft alleged Dolan pressured her into giving him "unwanted sexual intercourse" during the tour. In her lawsuit, Croft also alleged Dolan set her up to be molested by Harvey Weinstein in January 2014. On September 17, 2024, the suit was dismissed by a U.S. district judge. The district judge ruled that Croft's complaint had failed to properly allege federal crimes of fraud, coercion, or a "commercial sex act;" but "declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims against Weinstein and Dolan."