Knicks hand Mamdani-backed candidate cease and desist letter for using team's logo in campaign: report

A New York Senate candidate who has been backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has reportedly been issued a cease-and-desist letter by the New York Knicks for using the championship team's logo as part of her campaign.

Promotional stickers read, "I voted for Aber Kawas," using the Knicks logo, with the team's name replaced with "Kawas."

According to the New York Post, the Knicks demanded that the campaign "immediately remove all promotional materials incorporating Knicks Intellectual Property, including but not limited to the unauthorized Advertisements, and cease any further use of Knicks Intellectual Property."

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"Neither the Knicks nor NBA [Properties] have authorized the Campaign to use Knicks Intellectual Property in any way, including the Unauthorized Advertisements, which are likely to mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or in some way connected with the Knicks," Brian N. Warner, senior vice president and head of legal for Madison Square Garden Sports, said in the letter, according to the outlet.

"The Campaign’s activities in this regard constitute, among other things, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false advertising, false association, and unfair competition."

The Knicks and Mamdani have had beef that began last year when Mamdani's mayoral campaign also used the Knicks logo in a similar fashion to Kawas. Mamdani was given a cease-and-desist letter, and the Knicks made it clear they were not endorsing anyone in the race, which Mamdani won.

The White House then used the Knicks logo in a post shortly after last year's election to say, "Trump Is Your President." The Knicks reached out to the White House, which then removed the post.

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Knicks owner James Dolan and Mamdani also had a back-and-forth earlier this month about Knicks watch parties during the team's championship run. The two came face-to-face at the championship celebration last week at City Hall, when Mamdani name-dropped Knicks legend-turned-Dolan rival Charles Oakley during a reminiscent speech about the Knicks, while Dolan took one final parting shot at the mayor and stiffed him in a photo op.

"I don't need your vote. I don't need to quote to you what happened. If you're real Knick fans you know it already," Dolan said.

Dolan did announce that the Knicks would go to the White House to visit President Donald Trump, who attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Knicks would be the first NBA team to visit Trump.

Kawas, the Muslim daughter of illegal immigrants, is now the Democrat nominee for New York's Senate District 12 and is also a socialist. She recently came under fire for rejecting the notion that Muslim Americans need to apologize for 9/11, an attack "a couple of people did."

"I’ve always been outspoken about the wrongful scapegoating of Muslim Americans, both before and after 9/11, and in this interview I was speaking about the harmful notion that Muslims should have to apologize for an act of violence they have nothing to do with," Kawas told Fox News Digital Thursday morning.

Fox News' Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.

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