CNN Embarrasses Itself By Interviewing Donald Sterling’s Pimp

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Just when it looked like CNN couldn’t go any lower, they disgraced themselves even more by interviewing Donald Sterling’s pimp and calling it breaking news.

Video:

Here’s just a taste of the transcript of the debacle:

DON LEMON: But before we get to all of that, we want to begin with that breaking news I told but about. An aspiring rapper by the name of Maseratimet, who claims to be a friend of Donald Sterling, he also claims to have recorded a phone conversation they had and released them to Web sites.

Maseratimet joins me now with the exclusive interview.

Thank you for joining us here on CNN. You doing OK?

MASERATIMET, FRIEND OF DONALD STERLING: Yes, I’m doing good.

LEMON: How long you have known Donald Sterling? And how did you meet him?

MASERATIMET: Straight off the bat.

I knew Donald about five, six years. How I know him? That’s a good question. You know, Donald likes to have fun. Donald likes a lot of — Donald likes a lot of women. It’s obvious. The world knows Donald. I mean, it’s no surprise.

LEMON: So how did you meet him?

MASERATIMET: So, how I met him? I met him through a few — a friend of mine introduced me to him. And I actually ran a service in Las Vegas.

LEMON: OK.

So, in your previous life, let’s — you were involved in an escort service. Is that how you know Donald Sterling?

MASERATIMET: Correct. Correct. That’s how I know him.

LEMON: So you introduced him to ladies from time to time?

MASERATIMET: Correct.

LEMON: OK.

MASERATIMET: And…

LEMON: And go on.

MASERATIMET: And after a while, I just — he didn’t show no sign of racist to me. He seemed, you know, straightforward. He didn’t have any — he never showed no sign of racist to me. So, when I heard the tape, it just really threw me off.

LEMON: Did he like a certain kind of girl? Did the race of the girl matter or anything like that?

MASERATIMET: He liked — you know, he liked them light-skinned. I ain’t going to lie. He liked them light-skinned. He always prefer light-skinned women.

Poor Don Lemon deserves better than having to interview Donald Sterling’s pimp. Has it really come to this, CNN? Are you that desperate for ratings? I understand that CNN feels lost without the missing plane to look for, but this is really low. Under Jeff Zucker, CNN has become tabloid TV. The former cable news leader is chasing down breaking news ratings like a junkie in need of their sugar high.

This is just embarrassing. It is embarrassing for CNN. It is embarrassing for the media, and it is globally embarrassing that the world thinks that this is what passes for news in the US. Donald Sterling’s pimp is not news. There are millions of people who are being pushed closer to poverty every single day by the Republican refusal to extend unemployment benefits. That’s news. The improving economy is news. The fact that the ACA is working is news. The Republican attempts to dodge immigration reform is news. Donald Sterling’s pimp is NOT news.

What is most outrageous is that CNN had the nerve to call an interview with Sterling’s pimp breaking news. The corporate monetization of news has resulted in ratings and revenue being placed above all else. CNN has been abusing the breaking news tag since Jeff Zucker took over to the point where the term has lost all meaning.

There really is no reason to watch the former cable news leader. CNN has reached the point of no return.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association