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V. Stiviano assaulted in New York City, lawyer says

Posted at 7:15 AM, Jun 02, 2014
and last updated 2014-06-02 07:15:25-04

(CNN) — V. Stiviano, whose tape recording of Donald Sterling ranting against African-Americans led to his NBA lifetime ban, was assaulted by two men outside a New York hotel Sunday night, her lawyer told CNN.

The assault took place as Stiviano was leaving a restaurant by the Gansevoort Hotel with her sister and friends.

The men followed her, yelling racial slurs, said Stiviano’s attorney Mac Nehoray.

They punched her several times, leaving the right side of her face red and swollen, he said.

Stiviano didn’t immediately file a police report, because “she had to get out of there,” Nehoray said.

“I believe she will file a police report Monday,” he said.

The incident comes after video surfaced on TMZ that showed Stiviano making disparaging remarks about African-Americans. “I don’t understand black people. You give them a little bit of money, they don’t know what to do with it,” she says in the video that purportedly dates back to 2011 as part of a reality show pilot, TMZ said. CNN reached out to Nehoray for comment on the video but has not received a response.

Sterling’s inflammatory remarks to Stiviano spawned outrage among NBA fans, players and executives.

In the recording, Sterling chastises Stiviano for posting pictures online of herself with African-Americans, including NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson. He tells her not to bring Johnson to Clippers games.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league, fined him $2.5 million and pushed through a charge to terminate all of his ownership rights in the franchise.

On Friday, Sterling made it clear that he wasn’t going away, suing the NBA for more than $1 billion for its decision.

The-CNN-Wire