Donald Sterling’s ugly racist side has been caught on tape, and the audio recording is not pretty.
According to TMZ, which received and posted the audio recording, Sterling was upset with his girlfriend V. Stiviano for posting a photo to Instagram of her with Magic Johnson on April 9.
Sterling, who has owned the Los Angeles Clippers since 1981, is heard asking Stiviano why she takes photos with minorities. He goes on to explain how he lives in a culture where there is a divide among races that he follows.
“It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people,” Sterling is heard saying.
Some of his other disgusting comments include the following:
“You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.
“I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.
“Don’t put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring [Magic Johnson] to my games.”
The irony, of course, is that Stiviano is Black and Mexican.
Sterling is a real estate mogul and has faced discipline and lawsuits from the Department of Justice over his alleged discrimination against Hispanics, Blacks and people with families when it came to renting out units. He also was sued by former Clippers GM Elgin Baylor for alleged discrimination. Baylor alleged that Sterling had a “plantation mentality.”
TMZ got a hold of Magic Johnson, who had this to say in response to Sterling:
“It’s a shame that Donald Sterling feels that way about African-Americans,” Johnson said via TMZ. “He has a team full of amazing African-American basketball players that are working to bring a championship to Clippers fans. The Clippers also have a strong minority fan base.”
Sterling has also heckled his own players, which led to former Clippers point guard Baron Davis losing his love for the game.
In a related story, Sterling’s wife, Shelly, is suing Stiviano and alleging that the young lady had an affair with Donald. Shelly is claiming that Stiviano targets wealthy men. Here are some of the details of the suit, which was filed in March, via CBS LA:
According to the suit, Stiviano has several aliases, including Vanessa Perez, Monica Gallegos and Maria Valdez.
Stiviano reportedly met Sterling at the Super Bowl game in February 2010 and that same year began a sexual relationship with him, the suit states.
The suit asks for a return of all cash, land, expensive cars and other items that under California law are the community property of the Sterlings.
The timing of this audio leak is not accidental. I have no doubt that this was leaked to TMZ from Stiviano’s lawyer as a counter move to the Sterlings filing the lawsuit. Sue me? I’ll leak audio of you being racist and publicly ruin your reputation.
And I wouldn’t doubt that the Stiviano was instructed by her legal team to set up Sterling with this audio recording. Just listen to the way she talks — she makes herself out to be an angel while catching Sterling saying nasty things. She knew she was recording things and wanted to sound good.
Regardless, the calls for the NBA to act against Sterling will come loud and strong. Groups will likely be calling for him to be stripped of his ownership of the team, and they will have plenty of reason to do so.
