Clara Wu Tsai, Liberty Co-Owner, Pursues Broader Brooklyn Cultural Ambitions Amid Personal Transition
Clara Wu Tsai, co-owner of the WNBA's New York Liberty, attended the team's playoff game at Barclays Center as the Liberty defeated the No. 1-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71. At 60, Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba, announced their separation in late July after 30 years of marriage. The Liberty, who won the championship two years ago, advanced to the semifinals before trailing the Atlanta Dream heading into a potential elimination game.
Clara Wu Tsai was seated courtside at Barclays Center alongside artist Rashid Johnson and rapper Meek Mill during the Liberty's second-round playoff win over the Minnesota Lynx. The New York Times reported she had predicted the outcome before the game, leading her guests — including actress Lake Bell — from the Crown Club private dining space to their seats. Actor John Turturro was also in attendance that night.
The Liberty's on-court success has provided a platform for Wu Tsai's broader ambitions in Brooklyn. The Times reported she has been spending more time in a carriage house in Brooklyn Heights and has sponsored several public arts initiatives in and around Barclays Center set to open in the coming period.
Wu Tsai also attended the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of Werner Herzog's "Bucking Fastard," a film she produced. The Times described the film as a story of two sisters who speak in unison, fall in love with the same man, and together dig a tunnel through a mountain range. Wu Tsai told the paper she believed the film "ought to exist" and that it might not have been made "through conventional channels."