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Madison Square Garden temporarily disabled its on-site surveillance system and locked security staff out of its camera network for seven hours during a private event held by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, according to an internal memo obtained by Wired.
Surveillance Shutdown During Private Events
The New York City venue restricted access to its camera network and facial recognition software twice during the multi-day festivities. Security staff were locked out on July 2, the night of the couple’s rehearsal dinner, and again on July 3, during their wedding ceremony, according to Wired‘s reporting. Noah Shachtman acquired the internal memo confirming that the shutdown stemmed from a client privacy request.
Such security overrides are unprecedented at the arena. An anonymous source told Wired that disabling the surveillance system “has never been done” previously, noting that past private events hosted at Madison Square Garden properties by major entities—including NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the New York Police Department—did not receive similar camera shutdowns.
Security Infrastructure and Venue Operations
The Madison Square Garden security apparatus operates on Genetec software. Under normal operations, visitors pass through biometric scanners upon entry and remain tracked from camera to camera throughout the facility. During the Swift and Kelce nuptials, guests bypassed these biometric scanners entirely by utilizing a separate, private entrance, as reported by CNN.
Despite the interior network blackout, the internal memo confirms that the venue’s outside-facing security cameras remained operational throughout the multi-day celebrations. Representatives for Madison Square Garden did not immediately comment on the specific timing of the camera restrictions, though the venue has previously contested Wired‘s reporting regarding its broader celebrity database operations through ongoing legal proceedings, calling prior coverage “inaccurate and false.”
Celebrity Data Tracking Context
The temporary surveillance blackout follows a separate data breach involving the venue’s internal operations. Last month, the criminal hacker collective ShinyHunters leaked an internal Madison Square Garden “talent” database. That database classified approximately 40,000 celebrities by a designated risk level alongside demographic categories including race, gender, and sexual orientation.
According to Wired, several attendees at the Swift and Kelce wedding held assigned risk scores within that leaked database. The identified guests include Selena Gomez and her husband Benny Blanco, Benson Boone, and Ice Spice.
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