President Barack Obama said on Sunday that comments reported to have been made by the owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers basketball team were "incredibly offensive racist statements."
The NBA is investigating an audio recording posted online of Clippers owner Donald Sterling allegedly telling his girlfriend not to post photographs of herself with black people and not to bring African-Americans to Clippers games, league officials said on Saturday.
"When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk," Obama said when asked about the controversy during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Obama said he was confident NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would deal with the issue.
"Obviously the NBA is a league that is beloved by fans across the country," Obama, America's first black president, said. "It's got an awful lot of African American players steeped in African American culture."
He said the controversy was also an example of how the United States continues to wrestle with the legacy of race, and he likened that struggle to Malaysia's effort to foster a harmonious multi-ethnic society.
Celebrity news site TMZ.com published the 10-minute recording on its website late on Friday, describing it as a taped conversation between the billionaire Sterling and a model who goes by the name V. Stiviano.
"The audio recording posted by TMZ is truly offensive and disturbing, and we intend to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible," Silver said on Saturday night.
The recording was sharply criticized by civil rights leaders, fans and players. It was not immediately clear when and how the conversation was recorded.
Silver said the league would move swiftly to determine the authenticity of the recording and its context.
Clippers President Andy Roeser issued a statement saying they have listened to the tape on TMZ.
"We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. We do know that the woman on the tape - who we believe released it to TMZ - is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family," the statement said. "Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings."
L.A. Clippers Owner to GF:
Don't Bring Black People to My Games ...
Including Magic Johnson
4/25/2014 10:00 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
EXCLUSIVE
L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his GF he does NOT want her bringing black people to his games ... including Magic Johnson ... and it's ALL on tape.
TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano ... after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic.
Sterling rails on Stiviano -- who ironically is black and Mexican -- for putting herself out in public with a black person (she has since taken the pic down). But it doesn't end there. You have to listen to the audio to fully grasp the magnitude of Sterling's racist worldview. Among the comments:
-- "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)
Sterling has a documented history of allegedly racist behavior -- he's been sued twice by the federal government for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Blacks and Latinos.
He was also sued by former Clippers exec Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination -- though a jury was ultimately not convinced and shot down Baylor's case.
Sterling has been separated from his wife Shelly for years. She remains a key player in running the team and sources tell us she's "mortified" by Sterling's comments.
We have made several calls to Sterling and his people ... so far, no word back.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/26/donald-sterling-clippers-owner-black-people-racist-audio-magic-johnson/#ixzz304jawDHF
EXCLUSIVE
L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his GF he does NOT want her bringing black people to his games ... including Magic Johnson ... and it's ALL on tape.
TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano ... after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic.
Sterling rails on Stiviano -- who ironically is black and Mexican -- for putting herself out in public with a black person (she has since taken the pic down). But it doesn't end there. You have to listen to the audio to fully grasp the magnitude of Sterling's racist worldview. Among the comments:
-- "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)
Sterling has a documented history of allegedly racist behavior -- he's been sued twice by the federal government for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Blacks and Latinos.
He was also sued by former Clippers exec Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination -- though a jury was ultimately not convinced and shot down Baylor's case.
Sterling has been separated from his wife Shelly for years. She remains a key player in running the team and sources tell us she's "mortified" by Sterling's comments.
We have made several calls to Sterling and his people ... so far, no word back.
Report: Clippers owner Donald Sterling caught on tape telling his girlfriend to not bring African-Americans to 'my games'
TMZ revealed a recording early Saturday morning of what it says is Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling pathetically admonishing his girlfriend for “associating” with African-Americans – apparently she made the major mistake, in Sterling’s eyes, of posing for a photo with Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, a photo she later uploaded to her Instagram account.
It's a shocking and infuriating 9½-minute bit of tape that should embarrass the NBA and force new commissioner Adam Silver into action.
According to TMZ's recording, Sterling went on to chide his girlfriend, who is half-African-American and half-Mexican, for bringing African-Americans to Clippers games, even if those guests in question were of exalted status as Magic is, and even if she’s never done as much.
The recording is an absolutely depressing listen, to say the least. Here are some of the snippets, according to TMZ, from Sterling, who told his girlfriend V. Stiviano that he feels “very strongly” about her “broadcasting” the fact she briefly spoke to and posed with a very famous black man:
-- "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)
-- "...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)
Donald Sterling is the NBA’s great shame, and now a major media outlet apparently has him on record as telling a woman – one that he obscenely disrespects throughout the entire exchange – that he doesn’t want African-Americans coming to his basketball games. Whether Sterling is sadly mixing up his words or only referring to Magic Johnson personally, or jealous of the brief attention his much younger girlfriend (Sterling is still married to another woman, mind you) received isn’t the point – the point is that the NBA has to do something about its biggest problem.
This is indefensible. Sterling’s treatment of this woman is execrable enough, but the clear intent of his message and what’s simmering just underneath what he actually lets out should be enough to force what has previously been a spineless league (regarding the Clippers' owner) into action. The Clippers could boast a lily-white roster and coaching staff, that part barely matters in relation to Donald Sterling – owner of an NBA team – being taped telling someone he doesn’t want African-Americans at his basketball games.
Fight with his girl, heat of the moment, jealous as hell – it does not matter.
This is Silver’s first great task. He’ll have to balance the interests of a small team-owning few versus the respect of hundreds of millions. This, like Donald Sterling, is a no-brainer.
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