LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Wants to Stop Release of More Audio With His Racist Remarks
LA Clippers Donald Sterling’s racist rants about black people have led to protests from his players, criticism from Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron and even denounced by President Obama.
Sterling was recorded telling his alleged former girlfriend Vanessa Stiviano not to bring black people to games and do not pose with them for photos posted on Instagram.
The audio obtained by TMZ Sports, included these statements:
- “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?” (3:30)
- “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)
- “I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.” (7:45)
- “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)
This scandal is not going away anytime soon, but Sterling reportedly contacted his ex-girlfriend Sunday, who has more than 100 additional hours of damaging recordings she made. Sources connected with Sterling tell TMZ Sports he directly asked her, “How can we make this go away?”
Sources say Stiviano responded by telling Sterling to contact her lawyer, which likely is the start to settlement discussions to cease the release of more audio that could be even more damaging.
Since the release of the audio, NBA stars past and present have released statements criticizing the LA Clippers owner.
Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, now owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, released a statement to CBS News saying, “I’m obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views.”
One of the photos that Sterling featured Stiviano and Magic Johnson, another basketball legend. Magic Johnson says that he feels personally hurt by the comments.
“I had a friendship with him. So for him to then make these comments, or alleged comments, about myself as well as other African-Americans and minorities, there’s no place in our society for it. There’s no place in our league, because we all get along. We all play with different races of people when you’re in sports. That’s what makes sports so beautiful,” said Johnson who also added,“He shouldn’t own a team anymore.”
In a silent protest, the Clippers players discarded their team warm-up jackets at half court and wore their red team shirts inside-out before Sunday’s play-off game to hide the Clippers logo.
President Barack Obama also commented on the recording that surfaced while at a news conference with Malaysia’s prime minister on Sunday and called the remarks “incredibly offensive racist statements.”
“I don’t think I have to interpret those statements for you, they kind of speak for themselves,” Obama said. “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything. You just let them talk. And that’s what happened here.”
Obama also expressed confidence the NBA would properly deal with the situation, and said the United States still wrestles with “the legacy of race and slavery and segregation.”
“Obviously, the NBA is a league that is beloved by fans all across the country,” Obama said. “It’s got an awful lot of African-American players. It’s steeped in African-American culture. And, I suspect that the NBA is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this.”
Currently, the NBA is investigating the authenticity of the recording.
Listen to the audio below!
