Kristy Greenberg is a former federal prosecutor in New York who works as a legal analyst for MS NOW, the network known as MSNBC until November 2025, and hosts the YouTube show Courtside with Kristy Greenberg. She spent more than a decade at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), rose to Deputy Chief of its Criminal Division, and prosecuted celebrity email hacker Alonzo Knowles and Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland.
Here is what the public record shows about her career, her best known cases and her work on TV and YouTube.
AT A GLANCE
- Known for: Celebrity email hacking and Fyre Festival fraud prosecutions, plus legal analysis on MS NOW
- Last SDNY post: Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division
- Award: Top Prosecutor Award from the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, 2018
- Education: Yale and Harvard Law School, according to her own social media profiles
- Private practice: Joined Hogan Lovells as a partner in September 2022
- On screen: MS NOW legal analyst and host of Courtside with Kristy Greenberg
Who Is Kristy Greenberg?
Greenberg worked at a top New York law firm before joining the SDNY. As Deputy Chief, she was a senior member of the office’s management team. She oversaw the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, and the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit.
In September 2022, Hogan Lovells announced that she had joined its New York office as a litigation and investigations partner. The firm said her experience would help clients with cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, financial services, health care and executive conduct issues. Her social media bios today describe her as an MS NOW analyst and YouTube host and do not mention the firm.
Greenberg’s Best Known Cases at the SDNY
Four cases stand out in the public record. Two of them will be familiar to entertainment readers.
| Case | Year | Outcome | Her role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alonzo Knowles, celebrity email hacking | 2016 | Five years in prison | Prosecutor in charge |
| Three Chinese nationals, law firm hacking and insider trading | Charged December 2016 | Prosecutors alleged about $4 million in profits | Listed in her RSA Conference bio |
| Billy McFarland, Fyre Festival fraud | Charged 2017, sentenced 2018 | Six years in prison | Prosecutor, with Dina McLeod |
| NBA health plan fraud | 2021 | 19 defendants charged | Prosecutor, with Ryan Finkel |
The celebrity email hacking case
Knowles, a Bahamian man, broke into the personal email accounts of people in entertainment, sports and media. He stole unaired scripts and personal information. Prosecutors said he told an undercover agent he had files on at least 130 accounts, and the Associated Press reported that Jennifer Lawrence and Mary Elizabeth Winstead said they were among the victims.
Judge Paul Engelmayer sentenced him to five years and pointed to Knowles’ jailhouse remarks about shaking up Hollywood. Greenberg had asked for a stiff sentence after prison communications showed he still planned to use what he learned from celebrity accounts.
The Fyre Festival case
The Fyre Festival left hundreds of attendees stranded in the Bahamas in 2017. McFarland was charged with wire fraud that year over false statements to investors in Fyre Media and the festival. He pleaded guilty in March 2018 and was sentenced that October to six years in prison, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutors had asked for more than 15 years. Greenberg told the court the festival was not a good idea gone wrong, as McFarland had sometimes portrayed it, and said greed was the motive. She also predicted that if he got out soon, “I have no doubt he will be on to the next scam.”
Kristy Greenberg on MS NOW: Trump Trials and Legal Analysis
Greenberg was already appearing on MSNBC in May 2023. In an interview with host Ali Velshi, reported by Raw Story, she called Donald Trump “a prosecutor’s dream and a defense attorney’s nightmare,” arguing that he keeps making statements a defense lawyer would advise against.
In 2024, she followed the Manhattan hush money trial, including Michael Cohen’s cross examination, from the courthouse overflow room. She also wrote an opinion piece asking Judge Juan Merchan to rein in Trump’s trial lawyer. Her articles and appearances are analysis and opinion, not news reporting.
MSNBC became MS NOW on November 15, 2025. Her YouTube show now lists her as an MS NOW legal analyst.
Courtside With Kristy Greenberg: Her YouTube Show
Greenberg launched Courtside with Kristy Greenberg in late July 2025. She describes it as legal takes on politics, crime and celebrity legal drama. Episode titles cover subjects such as the Epstein files and Justice Department news. It is a commentary show with a clear point of view.
She also appears as a guest on other legal programs, including the Talking Feds podcast hosted by Harry Litman.
What Is Known About Her Personal Life
Many websites publish a birth date, a husband’s name, her children, her religion and a net worth figure. Those pages disagree with one another and name no sources, so none of it is repeated here. No reliable outlet has published verified figures.
What she has shared herself is limited. Her social media bios describe her as a wife and mom and a fan of New York sports teams and the Detroit Lions.
Searches can also bring up other lawyers who share her surname. Steve Greenberg, a criminal defense attorney, for example, has commented on the Sean Combs trial. He is a different person.
Quick Answers
Is Kristy Greenberg a judge?
No. She is a lawyer and former federal prosecutor.
Where does she work now?
She is a legal analyst for MS NOW and hosts her own YouTube show.
Which celebrity case did she handle?
She was the prosecutor in charge of the Alonzo Knowles email hacking case.
Her prosecutions are documented in SDNY press releases, and her current commentary is available on MS NOW and on her YouTube channel.
