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The fate of the L.A. Clippers remains up in the air, as outrage over owner Donald Sterling's alleged racist rant grows. And the woman Sterling was allegedly ranting to may have many, many more bombshells.
Sterling reportedly called his ex-girlfriend V. Stiviano and asked, "How can we make this go away?" TMZ Sports reports, "Our sources say ... Sterling is keenly aware V. Stiviano is in possession of more than 100 hours of recordings ... some of which are extremely damaging to Sterling's reputation. Our sources say Stiviano told Sterling to call her lawyer ... and thereby opened the door to settlement discussions. It's obvious the incentive for Sterling is to make sure the rest of the tapes never see the light of day."
The octogenarian real estate mogul had allegedly asked Stiviano to remove photographs where she's posing with black people—including beloved Lakers champ Magic Johnson and baseball star Matt Kemp—from Instagram. Stiviano's lawyer says that the first tape is authenticand the leaked 15-minutes is part of a longer, hour-long conversation. The leaked segmentdoes include the following exchange:
V: Honey, if it makes you happy, I will remove all of the black people from my Instagram. DS: You said that before, you said, "I understand."
V: I DID remove the people that were independently on my Instagram that are black.
DS: Then why did you start saying that you didn't? You just said that you didn't remove them. You didn't remove every—
V: I didn't remove Matt Kemp and Magic Johnson, but I thought—
DS: Why?
V: I thought Matt Kemp is mixed, and he was OK, just like me.
DS: OK.
Stiviano is being sued by Sterling's wife, Rochelle, for seducing her husband and for accepting $1.8 million in gifts from him (PDF). Rochelle "Shelley" Sterling issued a statement saying she's not a racist, "Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband. My children and I do not share these despicable views or prejudices. We will not let one man's small mindedness poison the spirit of the fans and accomplishments of the team in the city we love. We are doing everything in our power to stand by and support our Clippers team."
In the tape, when Stiviano points out he has a team full of black players, Sterling allegedly explains he's a benevolent guy, "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?"
Michael Jordan, the NBA legend and owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, said, "I look at this from two perspectives - as a current owner and a former player. As an owner, I'm obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views. I'm confident that Adam Silver will make a full investigation and take appropriate action quickly. As a former player, I’m completely outraged. There is no room in the NBA - or anywhere else - for the kind of racism and hatred that Mr. Sterling allegedly expressed. In a league where the majority of players are African-American, we cannot and must not tolerate discrimination at any level."
