There is honestly no caption that can outsnark the surreal nature of this photo. (©2014 by The Associated Press.)
Truth will always be stranger than fiction.
This is no more true than when it applies to the constantly evolving (or devolving) saga of embattled racist billionaire Donald Sterling, who over the weekend, somehow thought it a good idea to show up for church services at a predominantly black church in South Los Angeles on Sunday.
Sterling, who was kicked out of the NBA by new commissioner Adam Silver, and fined $2.5 million, recently moved out of the way of the sale of his former L.A. Clippers franchise, where it was reportedly purchased by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, for a reputed $2 billion.
According to KNBC-TV, Sterling went to Praises of Zion Missionary Baptist Church to support the church, calling the service “beautiful.” It seems the church’s pastor, J. Benjamin Hardwick, met Sterling recently, inviting him to worship with the congregation. Sterling received a warm welcome, with the pastor telling him the congregation was praying for him.
Praying for him to do what, exactly? Stop being a racist? Stop being a slumlord? If this church knew what they were praying about, they’d be praying for this old codger to die sooner rather than later, because while he’s alive, his brand of prejudice seems to only make him wealthier.
If we’re going to be honest, anyone who wears their fake name on a hat deserves to be punched in the face.
And where there are “winners” in this situation, there are also losers, and right now, the biggest loser in the Sterling fracas continues to be girlfriend-for-hire V. Stiviano (real name Maria Vanessa Perez), who, while her ex-meal ticket was being bathed in the light of the Lord, was busy being punched in the face repeatedly by a pair of men spewing racist epithets after leaving a restaurant in Manhattan.
For whatever reason, she chose not to file a police report, which speaks to the notion that she may have been involved in a larger fight, but all reports to this point are conflicting at best. However, that the story was first reported on Radar Online, with all information being “offered” up by her lawyer, casts a certain amount of shade on the whole situation.
When it comes to golddiggers like V. Stiviano, who originally recorded Sterling’s racist comments as part of an effort to defend herself from a pending lawsuit filed by Sterling’s wife Shelly, this could be just one more attempt at self-preservation on her part by creating more controversy, designed to make her all the more sympathetic to a public that never even knew she existed, probably wishing they didn’t once they did.
Stiviano doubles down on her own level of unlikability with the release of a pair of videos courtesy of TMZ, where she has her own divisive views of black folks that mirror those of Donald Sterling in many ways.
In the end, V. Stiviano is the one who gambled the most, and subsequently lost the most. She thought she could get ahead by taping Donald Sterling, holding the recording over his head like a sword of Damocles, and yet, while he loses the Clippers, he and his family gain billions, Stiviano still faces a lawsuit from Shelly Sterling that, unfortunately for her, isn’t going to go away any time soon. Couple that with the fact that this public display pretty much cuts her off from any lonely, philanderous, rich white men who’ll now view her as radioactive at best, and she almost becomes a truly tragic figure in this.
All she wanted was money and privilege. She ended up with a punch in the face and a reminder that she is no better than the people she likely turned her back on.