The Clipped Real People Are Spitting Images of the Actors Who Play Them—Take a Look

Donald Sterling (played by Ed O’Neill)

Donald Sterling, born Donald Tokowitz on April 26, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, is an American businessman and former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, an NBA team. Sterling moved to Los Angeles during his youth, where he later attended California State University, Los Angeles, and Southwestern University School of Law, earning a law degree.

Sterling began his career as an attorney but soon transitioned to real estate, where he found significant success. He invested in Los Angeles real estate, acquiring a substantial portfolio of residential and commercial properties, which became the cornerstone of his wealth.

In 1981, Sterling purchased the San Diego Clippers for $12.5 million and relocated the team to Los Angeles in 1984 without the NBA’s permission. Under his ownership, the Clippers often struggled on the court, although their performance improved in later years.

Sterling’s tenure as owner was marred by controversy. In April 2014, TMZ Sports released a recording of a conversation between Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano, who is part African-American. He tells her: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with Black people,” and, “You can sleep with [Black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want,” but “the little I ask you is … not to bring them to my games.”

Sterling was banned from the league for life and fined $2.5 million, the maximum fine allowed by the NBA constitution. He also faced pressure to sell the Clippers and in August 2014, the team was sold to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Sterling’s first after the controversy, he claimed he was “baited” into making those remarks. “When I listen to that tape, I don’t even know how I can say words like that. … I don’t know why the girl had me say those things,” he said. When Cooper asked if he was set up, Sterling said, “Well yes, I was baited. I mean, that’s not the way I talk. I don’t talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don’t talk about people.”

Riiiiight. In an interview with UPI Los Angeles, actor Ed O’Neill fleshed out his take on Sterling. “Everything with him was perception. He knew that racism was wrong. He didn’t consider himself a racist,” he said. “It really made no sense, but to him it did.”

Doc Rivers (played by Laurence Fishburne)

Glenn Anton “Doc” Rivers, was born on October 13, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois known for both his playing and coaching careers. He played as a point guard in the NBA from 1983 to 1996, primarily with the Atlanta Hawks, and also had stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs.

After retiring as a player, Rivers transitioned to coaching. He began his NBA coaching career with the Orlando Magic in 1999, earning the NBA Coach of the Year award in his first season. He later coached the Boston Celtics from 2004 to 2013, leading them to an NBA Championship in 2008.

Rivers then moved on to coach the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013, gaining a promising roster of players and the potential to make it to the championships. But he’d soon begin clashing with the team’s owner, billionaire Donald Sterling.

During an interview with NBA on TNT’s Ernie Johnson in 2020, Rivers said he “was blindsided, No. 1. But I did my research on Donald Sterling … I knew he wasn’t trustworthy. I knew he had a lot of flaws … I didn’t really find out about the racial stuff.” (The “racial stuff” Rivers refers to is the fact that Sterling faced several lawsuits for housing discrimination for using race as a factor in filling some of his apartment buildings, from 2003 to 2006.)

Rivers moved to the Philidelphia 76ers from 2020 to 2023, and in 2024 it was announced he joined the Milwaukee Bucks after their previous coach, Adrian Griffin, was fired after only 43 games. “This is a great opportunity to come to a first-class organization with a team that has a talented roster of high-character players,” Rivers said in a statement released by the team, per AP.

Shelly Sterling (played by Jacki Weaver)

Rochelle Sterling, or Shelly as she is more commonly known, was born on September 2, 1934, in Wilmington, California. She met Donald as a senior at Roosevelt High School and married him in 1955. They had three children together—Chris, Joanna and Scott. 

The Sterling family built their wealth primarily through real estate and according to The Sterling Affairs podcast, which as we mentioned Clipped is based on, she played a role in managing the family’s extensive holdings. When she and her husband became co-owners in the Clippers in 1981, they purchased the team for $12.5 million ($41.1 million by 2024 standards), per Forbes.

While she maintained she had nothing to do with her husband’s racist remarks, she landed herself in hot water in a 2007 housing discrimination lawsuit, per The Post. In a letter to the court, Darrell Rhodes said Shelly repeatedly made “inflammatory remarks” that “indicate bias” while he lived in an apartment owned by her.

“I asked her, ‘Would you reduce the rent?’ And she said, ‘Who do you think you are, you Black motherf–ker?” according to one deposition. In another deposition, property manager Maria Oliva claimed that Shelly had said “Latinos are so filthy.” The Sterlings settled that LA federal suit for a record $2.8 million with the US Justice Department. Following her husband’s lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine, she reportedly helped negotiate the sale of the Clippers team to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in 2014. 

V. Stiviano (played by Cleopatra Coleman)

V. Stiviano was born Maria Vanessa Perez but legally changed her name to V. According to the New York Daily News, Stiviano had a checkered history with petty crime, including two arrests for shoplifting—once at a Ross store in 2002 and again at Old Navy in 2004. Her record was published by TMZ in 2014, showing DUI and possession of controlled substances charges.

She reportedly met Donald Sterling at a Super Bowl party in 2010. He gave her a job at the Clippers shortly after. According to The Sterling Affairs podcast, V often told staff she “was going to be the next Mrs. Sterling.”

Over the years working with him, Stiviano recorded many of their conversations because he started to forget what he’d said to her thanks to early Alzheimer’s symptoms. The tapes, she said, were to help him remember their conversations.

After the explosive leak of his racist remarks during one of their conversations, Stiviano and Sterling (understandably) had a falling out and he sued her for an invasion of privacy. He later withdrew the lawsuit for an undisclosed reason.

In 2015, Shelly successfully sued V, accusing her of targeting extremely wealthy older men. She claimed her husband had used the couple’s money to buy Stiviano a Ferrari, two Bentleys, and a Range Rover, and that he helped her get a $1.8 million duplex. An LA judge ordered Stiviano to pay back more than $2.6 million in gifts.

“This is a victory for the Sterling family in recovering the $2,630,000 that Donald lavished on a conniving mistress,” attorney Pierce O’Donnell said in a statement, per CNN at the time. “It also sets a precedent that the injured spouse can recover damages from the recipient of these ill-begotten gifts.”

Andy Roeser (played by Kelly Aucoin)

Richard Andrew Roeser was born in Michigan in 1954 and is the former president of the Los Angeles Clippers. In reaction to the Donald Sterling recordings made public by TMZ, he said in a statement: “We have heard the tape on TMZ. We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. We do know that the woman on the tape—who we believe released it to TMZ—is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would ‘get even.’” 

“Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings. It is the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life. He feels terrible that such sentiments are being attributed to him and apologizes to anyone who might have been hurt by them.  He is also upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him about Earvin Johnson. He has long considered Magic a friend and has only the utmost respect and admiration for him–both in terms of who he is and what he has achieved. We are investigating this matter.”

After the scandal, Roeser was initially pegged to run the team, however, he was placed on an indefinite leave of absence. He eventually left the Clippers in the summer of 2014 after Steve Ballmer acquired the franchise.