Magic City responds to backlash from NBA players over Atlanta Hawks tribute night

Atlanta's famous Magic City has responded to pushback from current players over the strip club's upcoming promotion with the Hawks.

Last month, the team announced that it would host "Magic City Monday" during its March 16th game against the Orlando Magic, featuring a pregame show celebrating what it called an "iconic cultural institution."

The celebration will feature a live performance by Atlanta native T.I. Visitors will also have the opportunity to try two versions of Magic City's renowned chicken wings and purchase a special hoodie commemorating the event.

After the announcement, however, multiple players called on the Hawks to cancel the event. San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet wrote on his blog that celebrating Magic City "would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society."

Golden State center and former Hawk Al Horford shared Kornet's statement and voiced his support on X.

"Well said Luke," Horford wrote.

Responding to the backlash, Magic City manager JuJu Barney and Yaya, a dancer at the club and daughter of its founder, joined "TMZ Live" on Wednesday.

"Magic City has been a staple in Atlanta for 40 years now. It's bigger than strip. It's more an iconic place where anybody who's a CEO, an NBA player, a politician, actresses, actors - they all come, and they're all normal when they come here," Barney said, describing the situation as "a more adult version of Cirque du Soleil."

He said that the Hawks event will be a fun night without nudity.

"It's strictly just wings and music and people having a good time," he said.

Yaya said that, while she believes Kornet was coming from a good place, she didn't feel like she or other employees were used or degraded while working at the club.

"I feel like this collaboration honestly is more celebratory energy than anything he was trying to make it seem like," she said.

The Hawks have said "Magic City Night" is still scheduled despite the criticism.