The Atlanta Hawks are on their way to beating their longest winning streak in franchise history, but all anyone can talk about is the fallout from the canceled Magic City strip club promotion. Amid the ongoing controversy, a former Magic City dancer has entered the conversation, and we should all be paying attention to what she has to say.
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As we previously told you, the NBA team caused quite a stir this month after announcing a “Magic City Monday” themed night during their scheduled game against the Orlando Magic. Expectedly, news of the collaboration with the famous strip club at the family-friendly event was met with mixed reviews. The league ultimately pulled the plug in response to loads of backlash.
Still, fans pulled up to the March 16 match-up dripped in Magic City merch, and if you ask one of the most famous Magic City dancers, that just “makes sense.”
Kialana “Atlanta’s Diamond” Glover sat down for an interview with the “It’s UATL” podcast to explain why so many folks tapped into Atlanta’s culture– namely herself– were excited for the big Hawks game.
“I was like, ‘This is dope,’” she began. “This is big, and this is what we deserve after being so lowkey for so many years and being such a staple in our culture in the city of Atlanta,” Diamond added.
It’s true that Magic City holds a special place in the heart of Atlanta. Since the ’80s, the club has been known as more than just your average entertainment zone. At Magic, the athletes and ballers can hang with doctors and lawyers, and the club’s famous lemon pepper wings keep everybody coming back! Many of the dancers are even known as local celebrities, like Diamond, who is retired.
As a mother of two daughters, however, she told UATL she sees why the Magic City promotion received so much hate.
“I used to take my daughters to the Hawks games, and I can imagine if there was a collaboration with a strip club and I didn’t know about the culture, I probably would judge,” she admitted.
That could explain why San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet, who doesn’t seem to have any connections to the city and culture, was among the first and the loudest against the collab. He called out the Hawks for supporting Magic and “being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.” This opened the flood gates for other athletes like Hawks alumnus Al Hartford to also voice concerns.
“I think a lot of people need to just loosen up and keep it real with your kids,” Diamond continued. “Be the first person to explain things, you know? If you don’t tell them, the world is gonna tell them.”
The promotion primarily focused on Magic’s famous wings and merch for fans attending the game. There were no scheduled appearances from dancers and no Magic City performances planned– although rapper T.I. hit the court for the halftime show. Despite the promotion keeping things PG, folks complained about potentially subjecting young people to a salacious scene.
To that, however, Diamond chimed in. “You have to stand in the same shoes in taking your daughter to a Cardi B concert,” she said. “You have to be consistent in that.”
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