WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for the Clipped finale.
Summary
The final episode ofClippedcontinues the series trend of presenting a heavily factual account of theDonald Sterling scandal. The episode begins with Shelly Sterling (Jacki Weaver) preparing to host several meetings for potential buyers of the team after the NBA forced Donald (Ed O’Neill) to sell after implementing a lifetime ban for his racist remarks. It’s true thatOprah, David Geffen, and Magic Johnson were all interested in purchasing the Clippers in 2014before Shelly ultimately sold to former Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer for a record-setting $2 billion. Balmer, who still owns the Clippers, is worth over $130 billion today.
Clippedepisode 5chronicled the two real-life interviews that Barbara Walters had with both Shelly Sterling andV. Stiviano, the woman who recorded and leaked the infamous Sterling tape. As portrayed in theClippedseries finale,Stiviano was forced to give back all of the luxurious gifts Donald had given to her, including a multimillion-dollar house and a Ferrari. The final episode ofClippedalso chronicles the disappointing end of the Clippers' run in the 2014 NBA Playoffs in Doc Rivers' first season as their head coach. WhileClippeddidn’t end up focusing too much onthe Clippers players, it did recreate the most disruptive and shocking period in the organization’s history.
Sterling claimed Magic Johnson called him to offer his help in real CNN interview
Similar to the Barbara Walters interviews inClippedepisode 5, the CNN interview featured in episode 6 was based on an actual televised sit-down between Anderson Cooper and Donald Sterling. While theClippedversion captures most of the highlights, thereal Donald Sterling had much more to say about Magic Johnsonthan was portrayed in the dramatized interview. The real Donald Sterling said that when the leak was first released by TMZ, Magic Johnson called him and appeared to offer him help.“He just said: “Wait. Be patient. I will help you. We will – we will work it out.”
Sterling went on to accuse Johnson of manipulating himso he could figure out how to purchase to Clippers. “I think he wanted me just to do nothing, so he could buy the team. He thought maybe the whole thing would be resolved in two weeks. What has he done? Can you tell me? Big Magic Johnson, what has he done?” Clippedalso leaves out a part of the real-life interview in which Cooper reveals to Sterling that Magic attended a Clippers game the same night as the interview, which the real-life Sterling said was not “worthy” of responding to. Somehow, the actual interview was worse than the dramatization.
V. Stiviano Was Followed Outside Before She Was Assaulted In Hate Crime
She was allegedly attacked by two men outside a hotel
V. Stiviano was brutally assaulted in a stunning racially motivated crime as depicted inClipped. However,the facts of the occurrence were slightly altered for the dramatized version.Clippedportrays Stiviano getting into a verbal altercation with a white man at a bar who had overtly made racist comments at her. InClipped, Stiviano walks over to the man and gets in his face after she repeatedly uses a racial slur and takes a selfie of him and his friends with Stiviano in the background. This prompts Stiviano to defend herself by pushing the man, who shockingly responds by punching her in the face.
According toCNN, the assault took place outside of a New York hotel that Stiviano was leaving with her sister and friends. “The men followed her, yelling racial slurs. They punched her several times, leaving the right side of her face red and swollen.” A man from Long Island was charged with assault in June 2014 butthose charges were later dropped in Decemberof that same year. PerESPN, “Defense lawyer David Scott Smith says the dismissal is proper because authorities “can’t prove what didn’t happen.”
V. Stiviano Also Made Derogatory Comments About Black People
One major omission fromClippedis the real-lifeV. Stiviano’s racist comments about black people that she recorded herself making. In yet another bizarre headline,TMZreported in May 2014 that Stiviano mocked black people by using harmful stereotypes in a self-produced video, saying “I don’t understand black people. You give them a little bit of money, they don’t know what to do with it. [Black people] just act crazy … they’re like, ‘Yo, I wanna put extra rims on top of my rims. And my rims are gonna turn around. I’m gonna call them spinners.'” The video was from a 2011 reality show about gold diggers.
Clipped
Cast
“Clipped” takes viewers inside the Los Angeles Clippers’ organization during one of its most controversial periods. The series follows Coach Doc Rivers, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, as he navigates the fallout from owner Donald Sterling’s racist remarks. The scandal, captured on tape and broadcast globally, sparks a fierce power struggle involving Sterling, his wife Shelly, and his ambitious assistant V. Stiviano. As Rivers works to keep his team united and focused on winning, the show explores the broader implications of Sterling’s actions and the quest for accountability and change within the sports world.
