14 DAY TRIAL // Disgraced and controversial LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling agreed to sit down for an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, 2 full weeks after the leak of a couple of audio recordings painting him as a bitter racist. He started off by apologizing and “begging for forgiveness,” but he ended up by digging his hole a bit deeper.
Sterling came under very heavy fire when recordings of a longer conversation between himself and supposed girlfriend / protégée V. Stiviano were leaked, because he was instructing her to not post pictures of herself with African-Americans to her Instagram and Twitter anymore.
The conversation had started after he had “received a phone call” because she’d posted a pic of herself and Magic Johnson. Sterling ended up by banning her from posting all photos of minorities, saying she didn’t need to publicize her association with “these people.”
Stiviano has already talked to the press, defending Sterling and insisting that, despite what the world has heard, he is no racist. He, on the other hand, is throwing her under the bus in this interview with Cooper, saying she baited him into saying those horrible things.
In footage released yesterday, before the full interview aired, Sterling also said that Magic “knew the girl” and that they had been in contact since the scandal broke. He also said that he didn’t consider the basketball legend a good role model for kids in LA.
Now that the full interview is out, we know why Sterling believes that – and his explanation is perhaps even weirder than anything else that came out of his mouth these past few years.
“What has he done? Can you tell me? Big Magic Johnson, what has he done? He’s got AIDS. Did he do any business? Did he help anybody in South LA?” Sterling rants, as the video below can confirm. He is also the one who answers all these questions, no, Magic Johnson has helped no one.
In fact, Johnson didn’t even help himself because he lived his life in such a way that he got “those AIDS,” Sterling says. Cooper corrects him that Johnson doesn’t have AIDS but is HIV positive. Not that it makes too much of a difference to Sterling.
“What kind of guy goes to every city, sleeps with every girl, then he goes and catches HIV. Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. And what does he do for black people? He hasn’t done anything,” he continues.
He offers his own example as opposed to that of Johnson, saying that he’s given many millions to charity since he’s hit it big. He also prayed for the star when he found out about his diagnosis and “did not judge him.” Jews, Sterling underlines, give back to the community when they become successful, whereas many African-Americans won’t even consider doing that.