Clippers sponsors rush for the exits
Billionaire owner Donald Sterling's alleged racist remarks prove costly for his team with companies desperate to disassociate themselves
Wary sponsors lined up to dump the Los Angeles Clippers as pressure mounted over racist remarks allegedly made by the NBA team's owner, the embattled billionaire Donald Sterling.
Among them was a water brand owned by rap musician Sean "Diddy" Combs.
National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver was set to make an announcement early Wednesday Hong Kong time about the league's investigation of Sterling, whose team is valued at US$575 million .
Comments attributed to Sterling, heard in a recording first made public by celebrity news website TMZ at the weekend, have set off a firestorm around the 80-year-old real-estate tycoon, who bought the Clippers for US$12 million in 1981.
Clippers players, in the middle of a first-round play-off battle with the Golden State Warriors, staged a silent on-court protest on Sunday and NBA luminaries have called for the league to take tough action against Sterling, who has remained silent since the remarks surfaced.
But Sterling's estranged wife Rochelle upped the ante when she said the voice in the recording was that of her husband.
Major sponsors Chumash Casino and used car dealer CarMax pulled out of their deals with the Clippers, with CarMax saying the remarks that were attributed to Sterling were "completely unacceptable."