About 16 months ago, an audio recording surfaced of a conversation between then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling and a mistress named V. Stiviano. In the recording, Sterling told Stiviano he didn’t want her bringing black people to Clippers games, among other racist remarks. TMZ posted the audio, and the subsequent firestorm resulted in Sterling being banned for life by NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Sterling and his wife, Shelly, ultimately sold the Clippers to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.
That part is done and over with. But Sterling seemingly can’t let the issue rest: TMZ reports that he’s suing both them and Stiviano for the leaked recording.Former Clippers owner Donald Sterling is suing V. Stiviano and TMZ over the recording and publishing of a conversation he had with Stiviano.
Sterling filed the lawsuit Friday in L.A. ... claiming Stiviano “surreptitiously” recorded their convo sometime between September 2013 and April 2014 -- and then either she, or her agents, provided that recording to TMZ.
TMZ posted the recording on April 25, 2014.
In the docs, Sterling accuses TMZ of publishing the tape in violation of his privacy rights -- and says, as a result, he’s been damaged “on a scale of unparalleled and unprecedented magnitude.” He also says Stiviano and/or TMZ doctored the contents of the recording.
This is just the latest chapter in a story that simply refuses to die. When the NBA met with Sterling prior to issuing the lifetime ban last spring, he admitted it was his voice on the recordings and he said what was leaked. League lawyers authenticated the recordings and also indicated that Sterling knew he was being recorded, according to reports at the time.
We’ll see if Sterling’s lawsuit even makes its way to court. If it does, he doesn’t have much of a case.