Although everyone would rather stop talking about Donald Sterling, there’s one person whose involvement is central to the saga. While Sterling said words that offended, there’s another player in this scandal who might be just as much to blame.
That accomplice is V. Stiviano, the “alleged” girlfriend of Donald Sterling. Who was the person who recorded Sterling? And who knew that the tapes existed? The only answer is Stiviano. Although Stiviano was not the one who expressed racist epithets in the tape, she is still the one who most likely leaked the tapes to the press in the first place.
Stiviano broke the California Penal Code which punishes someone for intentionally recording another person without the other person’s consent. And if you listen to the tapes of Sterling rambling on and on, it sounds like a jealous lover rather than someone who is conscious of being recorded. Additionally, who wants to be recorded during a spat with a lover? Common sense prevails that Sterling can be believed on this one. Strike one for Stiviano.
But V. Stiviano claims that she and Sterling had a strictly platonic relationship, that she recorded tapes in order for him to “learn things about himself.” The reason why she told that to a flabbergasted Dr. Phil is because she doesn’t want to break the Penal Code. At this point, she’s just saving her back by coming up with these lies.
Let’s talk about one of the lies. She claims that since Donald Sterling was a billionaire, he was able to bequeath “four luxury cars, $240,000 in cash and the $1.8-million house ” to his assistants. This is an interesting statement, since Sterling’s wife had sued Stiviano for those gifts, claiming that she had “extracted” them from Sterling. Additionally, Sterling refused to hire a lawyer to placate this PR nightmare until not too recently, according to TMZ. So we’re expected to believe that a man that stingy with money would give a mere “assistant” gifts worth millions of dollars?
Sterling claims that Stiviano was his lover and offered more details about his sex life than you’d like to know in his Anderson Cooper interview. He claimed that she “used him and screwed him,” as TMZ said. And he may be right on that. There’s an almost 50 year age difference between the two, he was a sugar daddy to her, and Stiviano leaked the tapes in order to tear him down after the relationship wasn’t beneficial anymore.
And the reason to get rid of a profitable arrangement with Sterling? To get back at him after the relationship died down in early April. The LA Times reported that Stiviano texted an employee of Sterling’s to “ LET THE GAMES BEGAN…” And shortly afterwards, she sent the employee the audio file. Obviously before the employee could correct her grammar. Strike 3. She’s out. Not to mention what V Stiviano got for selling the tapes.
As Stiviano’s lies become clearer due to her bringing attention to herself, her actions will show that there’s more than one villain in this crazy story.
Image credit to FameFlynet