Disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling didn’t do himself any favors in his interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, which ran Monday night.
In his first sit-down interview since audio recordings of him making racist comments were leaked, the now-banned owner told Cooper he was “asking for forgiveness.”
“I’m not a racist,” Sterling told Cooper. “I made a terrible mistake. I’m here to apologize.
“I’m a good member who made a mistake, and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness,” Sterling continued. “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.”
But his pleas for forgiveness quickly evolved into even more insensitive comments when Cooper turned the conversation to Magic Johnson.
“Big, Magic Johnson, what has he done?” Sterling asked Cooper. “He’s got AIDS.”
Sterling, who has been banned for life and fined $2.5 million by commissioner Adam Silver, revealed he has talked to Johnson twice since the recordings were made public, but when asked if he had apologized to the NBA legend, Sterling instead took another shot at him.
“Well, if I said anything wrong, I’m sorry,” Sterling responded. “He’s a good person. What am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don’t think so. But I’ll say it, he’s great. But I just don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles. That he would go and do what he did, and then get AIDS.”
Check out part of the interview in the video below.
