Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has remained in the headlines since a tape where the businessman was heard expressing racist sentiments hit the web last month.
On Friday, MaseratiMet, the man behind the latest recording that allegedly features Sterling, spoke with Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush about why he released the new tape. (In the newest recording, posted on Radar Online last week, Sterling claims he made the remarks about who V. Stiviano hung out with, out of jealousy and out of a desire to sleep with her. “I’m trying to play with her. … If you were trying to have sex with a girl and you’re talking to her privately and you don’t think anybody’s there, you may say anything in the world,” the man reported by Radar as Sterling, said.)
“I was just really, one, upset, and it was a case where, you know, this person, all these years [I’ve] known you … and did some stuff for you,” Maserati explained to Bush about releasing the new recordings. “And here you are talking about you don’t like black people and then you’re talking about Magic Johnson and so, you know, the record button just came on.”
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During Friday’s interview, Bush asked Maserati how he knows the Clippers owner.
“Donald likes to have fun. Donald likes to party at night. I mean, I’m from Las Vegas. I mean, you don’t come to Las Vegas without going through me. I mean, you want some of the baddest women, you want to enjoy a good time, I mean, I’m the king of the nightlife,” Maserati responded.
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Maserati claims he has had a business relationship with Sterling.
“He went through my service, “ Maserati told Bush.
“When you own a service, they promote it all up and down the strip,” he added.
Asked where the two first spent time together, Maserati claimed he and the Clippers owner hung out in Las Vegas.
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“He came down to Vegas – Mandalay Bay. I think we were in some big suite up…in the Mandalay Bay and we just had fun. He likes to have fun,” Maserati said.
“We’ve all heard the word ‘pimp’ before. Does that apply to you?” Bush asked.
“No. I mean, I’m not a pimp. I mean, I run a business. … You pay taxes. It’s Las Vegas,” Maserati said.
According to Maserati, who is working on his rap career, and now based in Atlanta, Sterling helped him out in Los Angeles.
“When I went to California a few times… he showed me love,” Maserati said. “He’s a client. I mean, I took care of him when he comes down to Vegas, and then, in this case, when I go down to California, I have no issue with going to the games and staying in the best hotels.”
Maserati declined to reveal how much Sterling spent with his business.
Asked again about why he released the tapes, Maserati said he felt it was important.
“However I can get the story out, I’m gonna do it. If no one hit the record button on him, we wouldn’t know how this guy really is. So you have to look at it like that, too,” he said.
— Jolie Lash
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