Just when I thought everything was said and done as far as Sterling was concerned, a situation occurred that brought everything rushing back to the forefront.
In late April, 2014, less than ten years following the settlement of our case, phone recordings of Sterling and his alleged mistress, were released to news stations and social media that contained extremely offensive and racist statements.
Where our case had been privately settled and pretty much a non-event as far as the Media was concerned, this scandal was quickly brought center stage… and, with spotlights.
Sterling would not be able to side-step the issue in our contemporary, global world of Social Media and the court of public opinion.
And, I wasn’t too surprised that it didn’t take long before a few reporters came across my name and my mother’s name in court documents, in their quest to dig up dirt and information on Sterling that they could post. Soon, several news and social media representatives reached out to me as well, wanting to talk about what had happened before.
They wanted to determine if Sterling would be able to keep his Clippers basketball franchise.
At first, I didn’t want to discuss it, as it would bring up painful memories. Up until that moment, even my closest friends, my husband, and family in Dallas didn’t know the full story.
What changed my mind was that I started to see articles being published without my permission. with incorrect information. I got tired of it! So, I reached out to Gloria Allred, a noted discrimination lawyer who is known for being involved in high-profile cases defending women’s rights. Gloria agreed to help me set the record straight by holding a press conference, which was perfect, since she is a successful woman who has built her career by fighting for injustice every day.
It was only then that I opened up and shared the story with my closest friends and family. I also told them about my plans for a press conference and they supported me 100%.
On May 12, 2014 in Gloria Allred’s office, with every news and media outlet ready to hear what I had to say, I shared our story. And, because I didn’t want to make a show of things, I didn’t invite any of my friends or family members to the press conference; only Jazmine and Dylan were there as my supporters.
After this, I did one media and one radio interview, but I wasn’t looking for fame. I just wanted to share our story and pray that the NBA would consider the previous discrimination issues when making their decision regarding Sterling and his continued ownership of the Clipper basketball team.
Although Sterling and his wife challenged the league in an effort to prevent the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, when the dust cleared, a multi-billion dollar deal was closed with ownership transferring to former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer.
Donald Sterling was out!
For me, I was blessed to have Gloria Allred help me publicly tell our story in such a beautiful manner. I’ll always be grateful to her for that!
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