Donald Sterling will ask all of america for forgiveness during a primetime interview with CNN”s Anderson Cooper on Monday night. Sterling will formally apologize almost two weeks after Adam Silver and the NBA banned him for life, and fine him $2.5 million for making racist comments.
“I’m a good member who made a mistake and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview set to air on Monday. “Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.”
Sterling also tried to reiterate that he’s “not a racist.”
“I’m not a racist,” Sterling told Cooper. “I made a terrible mistake. I’m here to apologize.”
Asked by Cooper why he took so long to say he’s sorry, Sterling said he was “emotionally distraught.”
“The reason it’s hard for me, very hard for me, is that I’m wrong. I caused the problem. I don’t know how to correct it,” he said.