Dave Chappelle says Donald Sterling shouldn't have lost Clippers

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Comedian Dave Chapelle doesn't think it was fair to force Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers in spite of the "awful" racial remarks made by the businessman in a private phone conversation.

In an interview with GQ, Chapelle, 41, said that, ultimately, he doesn't think "Sterling should have lost his team."

"I don't like the idea that someone could record a secret conversation and that a person could lose their assets from that, even though I think what he said was awful," he explained.

Sterling, 80, owned the LA basketball team for 33 season when an audiotape in which he asked his girlfriend to condone his racial prejudices was released in April. After weeks of protests by fans and team members, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the NBA and fined him $2.5 million. His wife later sold the team to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion, a deal that Sterling contested in court.

Chappelle covered the subject in his Radio City show as it developed and told the magazine that while he doesn't excuse Sterling for his comments, he believes that people's possessions shouldn't be taken away from them based on "objectionable" remarks.

"When you think about the intimacy of a situation, like, can a man just chill with his mistress in peace?" he said. "I just don't like when things like that happen, because if they take [expletive] away for things that people say that are objectionable, I may not have anything in a few years. Granted, I don't think I say [expletive] like 'Stop bringing white people to my game.'"

Chappelle returned to comedy with an eight-day run at Radio City Music Hall in June after an eight-year hiatus.