The estranged wife of L.A. Clipper’s owner Donald Sterling can’t seem to make up her mind about racial comments her husband made in an audio recording his 31-year-old girlfriend released over the weekend.
Rochelle Sterling, who attended the Clippers game Sunday, told TMZ her family was devastated by the comments and they would support the team.
“Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband,” she said. “My children and I do not share these despicable views or prejudices. We will not let one man’s small mindedness poison the spirit of the fans and accomplishments of the team in the city we love. We are doing everything in our power to stand by and support our Clippers team.”
However within hours, she was defending her husband, saying he was not a racist.
A photographer asked Sterling if he was a racist as he was leaving Fleming’s steakhouse in Downtown L.A. Sunday night with Shelly.
Donald was silent, but 80-year-old Shelly screamed at the photographer, “OF COURSE NOT.”
Her oscillating opinions come after the release of the infamous audio tape in which Sterling berates his girlfriend for posting a picture of herself with former NBA star Magic Johnson on Instagram and tells her not to bring black people to the games.
The NBA is currently considering what action to take against Sterling after players including LeBron James and Michael Jordan said there was no place for him in the league.
Meanwhile, it looks like Shelly will continue to take a stand-by-her-man stance. Insiders say she has no intention of divorcing Sterling.
“Shelly has no immediate plans to divorce Donald,” an insider told Radar. “They remain the best of friends, and have been separated for years.” In fact, she was spotted out with him last night in Los Angeles.
“One of the reasons Shelly has no plans to file is purely financial,” the insider said. “It would just cost them too much money — both are extremely cheap. Shelly is actively involved in the family real estate business and is a co-owner of almost all of the apartment buildings Donald owns in Southern California. They are the single largest owner of apartment building in Los Angeles County. For them to divorce, it would entail having all of those properties appraised, calculate rental income for each unit. It would be extremely costly and time consuming.”
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