Donald Sterling Sues Girlfriend Over Racist Rant Tapes

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Donald Sterling, the disgraced former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, is suing celebrity gossip site TMZ and ex-girlfriend V. Stiviano.

Sterling, the former basketball team owner, filed suit against the two in Los Angeles Superior Court Friday, the Washington Post reported.

Sterling’s suit alleges that Stiviano “illicitly” recorded a phone conversation without his knowledge. In the recording, made public in April 2014, Sterling told Stiviano not to socialize with African-American men.

Public outrage over his statements led to Sterling being banned for life from the National Basketball Association, many of whose players are African-American.

The suit contends that the recording was edited deliberately to distort his meaning and damaged him on a “scale of unparalleled and unprecedented magnitude.” In the recording, and in subsequent comments and interviews, Sterling, who is Jewish, made reference to a number of Jewish issues as well, including the Holocaust and Jewish free loan organizations.

Sterling also is suing his wife Rochelle, and numerous other individuals.