Disgraced LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling sat down with CNN for his first interview since the NBA banned him for life. Sterling said he was sorry for making racist comments, and then proceeded to take shots at Magic Johnson:
“When I listen to that tape, I don’t even know how I can say words like that. … I don’t know why the girl had me say those things,” Sterling said in an interview set to air on Monday.
“You’re saying you were set up?” Anderson 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.”
“I’m not a racist,” Sterling said. “I made a terrible, terrible mistake. And I’m here with you today to apologize and to ask for forgiveness for all the people that I’ve hurt.”
Sterling said he’s not sure who released the recording.
“I don’t know. An 80-year-old man is kind of foolish, and I’m kind of foolish. I thought she liked me and really cared for me,” he said. “I guess being 51 years older than her, I was deluding myself. … I just wish I could ask her why, and if she was just setting me up.”
“If I said anything wrong, I’m sorry,” Sterling said. “(Magic Johnson’s) a good person. I mean, 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 don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.”
