Donald Sterling is the 80 year-old owner of the LA Clippers, an NBA team. He’s in the process of divorcing his wife of 50 years, who is currently suing his mistress, a 38 year-old woman named V. Stiviano. (Her photo is above.) Sterling’s wife is attempting to recover some of the 1.8 million dollars her estranged husband lavished on Stiviano over the four years he’s been dating her.
As you’ve likely heard, two audio recordings of Sterling saying horribly racist things have come out. You can listen to them on TMZ and Deadspin. (The Deadspin audio is a continuation of the TMZ tape.) The audio was recorded and may have been released by Stiviano, who is said to be in possession of over 100 hours of recordings of Sterling. (Sterling’s lawyer has denied that his client released the tape.) TMZ reports that Sterling is trying to reach some kind of settlement with Stiviano in order to ensure that no more audio is released to the media.
In what has come out so far, Sterling is heard telling Stiviano to remove all black people from her Instagram and not bring African Americans to see the Clippers games, including famous sports stars like Magic Johnson. Silviano is of mixed race, and that’s not ok with Sterling, who said, of her race, “you’re an enemy to me.” and told her that she should try to pass as Latina. He also told her to remove separate photos from Instagram where she’s posing with Magic Johnson and with LA Dodgers baseball player, Matt Kemp. (Kemp is also of mixed race as Silviano points out in the recording.)
Here’s some of what this doddering racist idiot said:
DS: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?” (3:30)
DS: “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.” (5:15)
DS: “I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.” (7:45)
DS: “…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 him to my games.” (9:13) – via TMZ
V: Do you know that you have a whole team that’s black, that plays for you?DS: You just, do I know? I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have—Who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners, that created the league? – via Deadspin
In the recording on Deadspin, Sterling twists Stiviano’s words, tries to derail the conversation and blame her and it’s frustrating to listen to, to say the least. He plays the victim while saying horribly hateful things and then denying it. Stiviano tries to placate him with juice and by saying she’s sorry when she has nothing to apologize for.
This is huge news and a lot of people are saying that Sterling should be suspended from the NBA. I agree. President Obama, a basketball fan, has spoken out about this controversy. He was asked about it in a press conference while he was in the Philippines and he said, very aptly, “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything. You just let them talk. That’s what happened here.” Obama also said that he had confidence that the NBA commissioner “will address this.”
The President then brought the conversation around the the larger issue of race. “The United Stated continues to wrestle with a legacy of race. Slavery and segregation, that’s still there. The vestiges of discrimination. We’ve made enormous strides, but you’re going to continue to see this percolate up every so often. We just have to be clear and steady in denouncing it, teaching our children differently, but also remaining hopeful that part of why statements like this stand out so much is because there has been this shift in how we view ourselves.” That was so well put and true.
Sterling and his wife:
Stiviano with former California state senator Nate Holden and current California assemblyman Chris Holden.
Stiviano with Matt Kemp
Photos from Instagram, Getty
