The wife of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling publicly trashed him over his secretly recorded racist rant — then did a sudden about-face and defended him just hours later.
Rochelle “Shelly” Sterling issued a statement Sunday night saying: “Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband.”
“My children and I do not share these despicable views or prejudice,” she added.
“We will not let one man’s small mindedness poison the spirit of the fans and accomplishments of the team in the city we love.”
But soon after, the couple was spotted leaving Fleming’s steakhouse in Downtown LA, where a paparazzo asked Donald: “Are you a racist, Mr. Sterling?”
A video posted on TMZ shows that Donald didn’t respond as he was escorted into the passenger side of an SUV, but Shelly screamed: “No, of course not!”
“Forget it. It’s not true,” she added.
Shelly also appeared to suggest that her hubby’s incendiary remarks had been doctored after the photographer said “the tape speaks for itself.”
“They were al-” Shelly as she hopped into the driver’s seat and the photog began arguing with a restaurant staffer.
The NBA plans to make an announcement Tuesday about its probe into Sterling’s remarks, during which he scolded ex-girlfriend V. Stiviano for posting online photos of her herself with black people — including basketball legend Magic Johnson — and told her not to bring black people to “my games.”
Meanwhile, Sterling’s son-in-law, director of operations for the Clippers, blasted the “deplorable and disgusting” comments in which the owner scolded his girlfriend for “associating with black people” and told her not to bring any black friends to games.
“There is no room in sports or society in general, for racism,” Eric Miller told TMZ.
“If these comments should happen to cost me my employment with the team, it is but a small price to pay to speak out against ignorance and racism.”
Sterling’s daughter, Joanna Sterling Miller, who’s married to Eric, said, “I am devastated and saddened by the cruel and insensitive comments expressed in these audio tapes.”
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, however, said that the NBA should not remove Sterling and that the precedent would set a “slippery slope.”
“I think there’s a constitution for a reason, right?” Cuban told ESPN. “I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.”
Advertisers rushed for the exits Monday, with Mercedes-Benz, CarMax, Virgin America airlines and the Chumash Casino Resort all announcing they were ending their sponsorship of the Clippers.
Kia, Red Bull, Lumber Liquidators, Yokohama Tire and bottled- water company AQUAhydrate said they were suspending their ads and sponsorship.
Potential buyers also lined up to replace Sterling, including NBA legend Magic Johnson.