V Stiviano, the woman who recorded racist remarks made the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, told ABC’s Barbara Walters that team owner Donald Sterling was distraught over the episode.
“I think he’s highly more traumatized and hurt by the things that he said himself,” she said, according to ABC. “I think he can’t even believe or understand sometimes the things he says, and I think he’s hurt by it. He’s hurting right now.”
Additionally, Sterling’s 31-year-old confidante said she thinks the beleaguered NBA owner should apologize for his racist remarks.
“Absolutely,” she said when Walters asked her whether she thought Sterling should apologize. Stiviano and Walters spoke during an exclusive television interview in Los Angeles.
Asked whether she thought Sterling would apologize, Stiviano replied: “Only God knows.”
It was the first television interview for Stiviano since the NBA handed Sterling a lifetime ban and a $2.5 million fine on Tuesday for his remarks about African Americans, which were revealed in a leaked audio recording.
Stiviano, who describes herself as black and Mexican, told Walters she recorded conversations with Sterling and shared them with friends. She also said it “was not the first time” that Sterling had told her not to “promote” her relationship with black people or “bring them to my games.”
Read more at ABC.