Magic City Monday promotion celebrating strip club cancelled

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The magic is gone for fans of the Atlanta Hawks and an iconic adult entertainment hot spot in the city.

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The NBA announced Monday evening that it had cancelled the Hawks’ planned March 16 theme night celebrating the Magic City adult entertainment club with offerings that included special food, a halftime show featuring Grammy Award-winning rapper T.I. and exclusive merchandise.

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Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement that it was the “right decision for the broader NBA community” to make the event disappear.

“When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale,” Silver said. “While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees.”

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The Hawks said that while they were “very disappointed” by the cancellation, they “fully respect” the league’s decision.

“As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta – with authenticity – in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together,” a statement on social media said.

Halftime show will go on, famed wings still on menu

The Hawks also said the game against the Orlando Magic will still include T.I.’s halftime performance and the “full array of award-winning culinary options,” including Magic City’s famed wings.

Despite praise in some corners, the “Magic City Monday” event had drawn criticism from NBA players including San Antonio Spurs centre Luke Kornet, who expressed his discomfort with the league being associated with such an event.

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In a blog post on Medium, the nine-year NBA veteran asked the Hawks to abandon their plans for the theme night, saying it reflected poorly on the league and its players.

“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,” Kornet wrote. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers and partners that we know and love.”

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Ex-Raptor went viral at club

That led to former ESPN host Michelle Beadle accusing Kornet of parading as a “white knight” in defence of women, even though the promotional event was spearheaded by The Lost Boys actress Jami Gertz, who is also a principal owner of the Hawks.

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Gertz produced the docuseries Magic City: An American Fantasy, which explored the establishment’s history and its place in hip-hop and Black culture.

Part of that history includes a viral incident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Hawks guard Lou Williams violated the league’s protocols by visiting the strip club. The former Toronto Raptor said at the time that he only went there to get some of their “world-famous wings.”

“We don’t need this,” Beadle said on a recent episode of the Beadle & Decker podcast. “I’ve had enough of men telling us what we can and shouldn’t (do) and what we should want and what we should need and how we should act.”

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