CarMax, Virgin America, other sponsors pulling away from Clippers over Donald Sterling's comments

Since the release of am audio record of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling's alleged racist comments, sponsors have begun to back away from the team.

Sponsors like CarMax and Virgin America have terminated their sponsorship with the NBA team, while State Farm and Kia have temporarily halted their sponsorships while the situation is sorted out, reports the Chicago Tribune.

State Farm took to Twitter to release their official statement that at the current time the company was taking a step back and pressing "pause." They also noted that "the remarks attributed to the Clippers' owner are offensive." Kia echoed a similar sentiment in their announcement that they were suspending their relationship with the team.

Though they weren't willing to completely sever their relationship, longtime sponsor CarMax and Virgin America were. According to the Los Angeles Times, CarMax said in a statement, "These views directly conflict with CarMax's culture of respect for all individuals."

After the audio, first released by TMZ Sports, was posted online the NAACP announced that Sterling would no longer be honored for a lifetime achievement award. Though given his dubious past, it's a surprise he was being given an award in the first place as he has been sued twice by the U.S. government over racial allegations regarding renting apartments to minorities. He was also sued by former Clippers exec Elgin Baylor.

As previously reported, Sterling was allegedly caught on tape talking with his girlfriend V. Stiviano about posting pictures on Instagram of her with minorities and taking Magic Johnson to Clippers' games.

image from Twitter via State Farm

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.