A diehard New York Rangers fan known as “Dancing Larry,” a perennial home-game fixture famous for gyrating wildly on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron, may be a crowd favorite but is allegedly reviled by staffers who say he gets handsy with them during his act.
In a workplace discrimination lawsuit filed Monday and obtained by The Independent, Miranda Tyson, a member of the team’s “Blue Crew” – a squad of entertainers who hype up the crowd during commercial breaks – claims Dancing Larry’s “insistence on touching us” has gone too far.
Tyson’s complaint accuses Dancing Larry, a New Jersey resident whose real name is Larry Goodman, of “pervasive and severe” harassment, such as pawing at the Blue Crew’s heads, necks, arms, shoulders and backs, “even trying to lace his fingers with theirs during high fives.”
It says some reported “even more egregious conduct by Larry, including… spitting into people’s mouths.”
“Every time we return from ‘Dancing Larry,’ more than one person assigned to it laments an unwanted interaction,” Tyson wrote in an email to their supervisor, according to the complaint.
Tyson emphasized in the message that they were not asking to be personally taken off the Dancing Larry segments, the complaint continues.
“That would not solve the problem – that would simply put another victim of persistent, unwelcome physical conduct that interferes with their ability to do their job in my place,” Tyson wrote. “I am saying that MSG has a responsibility to step in and address this textbook sexual harassment from one of its most recognizable personalities."
But, according to the complaint, a conversation between MSG’s HR department and Dancing Larry went nowhere, and he “once again subjected Mx. Tyson to unwanted physical contact, placing his ‘full palm on the small of [their] back’ as they exited the performance area.”
When Tyson followed up with another report to higher-ups, their position on the Blue Crew was eliminated, the complaint contends.
In an email on Tuesday, an MSG spokesperson said, “We don’t comment on employee or legal matters.”
Attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal, who is representing Tyson, declined to comment on the case beyond what is in the complaint. Dancing Larry, who is not named as a defendant in Tyson’s suit, was unable to be reached.
In September 2021, Tyson earned a spot on the Blue Crew following a competitive interview and audition process, their complaint states. It says the job entailed “entertaining and energizing the crowd during games,” involving t-shirt tosses, on-ice presentations, in-stands promotions, and appearances at off-site Rangers events.
Tyson’s performance reviews were uniformly positive, with supervisors using descriptors like “awesome,” and “hardworking but chill,” and they were asked to work additional Knicks events during the team’s 2025 playoff run, according to the complaint, which was filed in New York County Supreme Court.
At the same time, Tyson’s interactions with Dancing Larry were problematic from the start, the complaint goes on. A fan-favorite since 1996, Dancing Larry is known for grooving to “Strike It Up” by Black Box during the third period of Rangers home games, while the crowd cheers him on.
Shortly after getting hired, the complaint says Tyson began to hear from veteran performers about an “ongoing problem” with Dancing Larry: his “insistence on touching non-male Blue Crew members.”
“This physical contact occurred both immediately before the segment began, while Blue Crew members waited on the stairs for their cue, and immediately after the segment concluded, as Blue Crew members exited the performance area and Larry returned to his seat,” according to the complaint.
Although Dancing Larry’s alleged harassment occurred at “nearly every” contest, and was “an open secret among Blue Crew staff,” Tyson and the rest of the troupe were afraid to confront him “[d]ue to [his] popularity with leadership and fans,” the complaint maintains.
However, by the 2023-2024 season, Tyson had seen enough. While Dancing Larry’s alleged misbehavior was an “open secret” among employees, MSG and Rangers management had done nothing” to stop it, the complaint asserts. So, on March 23, 2024, Tyson made a formal report about Dancing Larry to their direct supervisor.
The complaint notes that Tyson’s goal extended beyond a personal one, in “an effort to rectify a systemic problem on behalf of themselves and their colleagues.” For this reason, it says Tyson said they were not asking to be transferred away from Dancing Larry, but for the situation to be properly addressed for everyone’s benefit. In response, management spoke to Dancing Larry about limiting his interactions with the Blue Crew to fist bumps and standard high-fives, and told Tyson that things would be different moving forward, according to the complaint.
Still, Tyson claims Dancing Larry was soon back to his old tricks. A few months into the 2024-2025 season, he “once again subjected Mx. Tyson to unwanted physical contact,” allegedly touching the small of their back at the end of a routine, prompting Tyson to file another report with their boss. The boss passed the report on to an HR rep, who called Tyson and promised to deal with Dancing Larry, the complaint states.
Instead, it says Tyson was simply barred from participating in any further Dancing Larry segments, which the complaint claims was retaliatory and “directly linked to Mx. Tyson's harassment complaint.”
In early August 2025, according to the complaint, Tyson was fired.
“After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that you have not been selected to return this season,” her termination email read.
HR told Tyson they had been let go due to a “business decision,” and that the company “had to make a lot of very difficult decisions,” the complaint states.
Yet, it maintains, “The true reason for Mx. Tyson's termination was retaliation for engaging in protected activity under the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law. Defendants terminated Mx. Tyson because they complained about sexual harassment, because they objected to being retaliated against for making that complaint, and because they refused to remain silent about the hostile work environment that Defendants permitted and perpetuated at Madison Square Garden.”
Tyson is now seeking compensatory damages for lost wages, loss of employment benefits and loss of future earning capacity, along with punitive damages for MSG and the Rangers’ “malicious, willful, wanton and reckless conduct,” plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
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