Posted Oct 10th 2009 8:00AM by TMZ Staff
One of the stars of the "West Wing" claims she barely escaped a roaring fire at her West Hollywood apartment building last month -- and the building happens to be owned by the same guy who owns the Los Angeles Clippers.
The woman who was smoked out is Kim Webster -- who starred on the NBC show as Ginger the secretary for several seasons.
The L.A. County Fire Department tells us they deemed Kim's apartment "Unsafe -- do not occupy" after a fire tore through the place -- owned by real estate magnate Donald Sterling -- around 3:20 PM on September 28th. Fire officials determined the blaze was caused by faulty wiring on a 1st floor ceiling fan.
But Kim says she's now homeless -- and had to spend the following night in a shelter.
No word on when, or if, she can move back in.
Filed under: Exclusives
Tags: donald sterling, DonaldSterling, ginger, kim webster, KimWebster, la clippers, la county fire, LaClippers, LaCountyFire, west wing, WestWing
Posted Feb 12th 2009 1:40AM by TMZ Staff
Former legendary L.A. Laker Elgin Baylor has just filed a lawsuit against the L.A. Clippers and the NBA, claiming he's the victim of rampant racial discrimination.
In the lawsuit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Baylor -- who was unceremoniously dismissed as VP and General Manager last October -- claims the team has "egregious salary disparities" based on race. Baylor claims he was told to "induce African American players to join the Clippers, despite the Clippers' reputation of being unwilling to fairly treat and compensate African American players." Baylor says the owner, Donald Sterling, has a "pervasive and ongoing racist attitude."
Baylor cites the case of NBA player Danny Manning, where Sterling allegedly said, "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor Black kid." The suit claims Sterling repeatedly referred to the team as "poor Black kids" and "he wanted a White coach directing the Clippers." Sterling is being sued as well.
Baylor says he personally got stiffed, only being paid $350,000 a year since 2003, when a "Caucasian head coach was given a 4 year, 22 million dollar contract."
Here's the best part. The suit says, "At all relevant times mentioned here, Mr. Baylor was an African American male over the age of 40."
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Talk Sports, Exclusives
Tags: Donald Sterling, DonaldSterling, Elgin Baylor, ElginBaylor, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, LaClippers, LaLakers, lawsuit, racial discrimination, RacialDiscrimination, racist
