Donald & Shelly Sterling Defend Themselves In The Media [Video]

The Sterlings are taking their battle to keep the Clippers public with Donald and Shelly Sterling working both angles. First up, Donald Sterling had a sit down interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Sunday. In snippets of the interview, Sterling asked for forgiveness and stated he hoped the owners would give him a chance because this was his first “mistake” in 35 years as an NBA owner…

“I’m a good member who made a mistake and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview set to air on Monday. “Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.”

And, he wants you to know he’s not a racist, k!

“I’m not a racist,” Sterling told Cooper. “I made a terrible mistake. I’m here to apologize.”

When asked why he took so long to apologize, Sterling said he was “emotionally distraught.”
“The reason it’s hard for me, very hard for me, is that I’m wrong. I caused the problem. I don’t know how to correct it,” he said.

I guess he gets to say that because that housing discrimination lawsuit was settled out of court with no admission of guilt. Wait, did you miss this other “leak” where Sterling claimed he only said that stuff cause he was trying to have sex with her…

But he also told Anderson he was baited into this… Yeah, somewhat. But it was a set up to thoughts Sterling had clearly expressed before.

You’re saying you were set up?” Cooper asked.

“Well yes, I was baited,” Sterling said. “I mean, that’s not the way I talk. I don’t talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don’t talk about people.”

 

Meanwhile, Shelly has been working the other side. She sat down with TV journalist legend, Barbara Walters- the same woman that interviewed V. Stivano who claimed that she was Donald Sterling’s “Everything” – to state that she wants to retain her 50% share of the Clippers and to float the idea that her estranged husband has dementia.

 

“She wants to remain a passive owner,” said attorney Pierce O’Donnell. “She’s not going to want to manage the team. She’s going to want a very skilled, professional, well-heeled new owner to come in and replace Donald,” O’Donnell said. “She only wants to own the team in her lifetime. She’s 79 years old. At this point, she’s earned it. She’s been an owner for 33 years, and she’s an avid fan.”

“I will fight that decision,” she told ABC’s Barbara Walters. “To be honest with you, I’m wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there’s 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?”

 

Oh and that she plans to file for divorce “soon.”

Walters questioned whether Sterling plans to file for divorce from her estranged husband.

“For the last 20 years, I’ve been seeing attorneys for a divorce,” she said, laughing. “In fact, I have here– I just filed– I was going to file the petition. I signed the petition for a divorce. And it came to almost being filed. And then, my financial advisor and my attorney said to me, ‘Not now.'”

Shelly Sterling added that she thinks the stalling of the divorce stems from “financial arrangements.”

But she said, “Eventually, I’m going to.”

 

The NBA already planned for that angle and released a statement pointing to their bylaws which basically says, “good luck with that boo.”

The Sterlings can try to fight the inevitable but the bottom line is, they will be out as owners and stand to profit handsomely from it. Take the L.

 

videos via CNN & ABC News