Summary
The first four episodes ofClippedare currently available to stream on Hulu with new installments released weekly on Tuesdays. FX’s limited series stars Laurence Fishburne as Doc Rivers, a former Clippers player who returns to coach the team in 2013. Rivers' goal to help his players succeed is made difficult by owner Donald Sterling, who torments them through racist remarks and belligerent comments.
Gina Welch serves as the showrunner ofClipped, as well as a writer and executive producer. Rembert Browne is a producer and writer, while Kevin Bray is an executive producer and director. The creative team is enthusiastic about bringingRamona Shelburne’s podcastto the screen, as they believe that the series allows viewers to take a closer look at the effect toxic people in power have on society. Welch and Bray emphasize how kindness matters and hope thatClippedis able to have an impact on the present day.
Clipped: What Happened To V. Stiviano After The Donald Sterling Scandal
As shown in FX’s Clipped, V. Stiviano is the woman responsible for leaking tapes of Donald Sterling in the 2014 scandal. Here’s what happened to her.
Screen Rantinterviews Welch, Browne, and Bray about educating the public on theDonald Sterling scandaland setting the proper tone for the limited series.
Clipped Is A “Nice Rehash” For Those Who Are Already Familiar With The Story
Screen Rant: What does it mean to each of you to have the opportunity to shed light and educate people who may not know the extent of what was happening behind the Clippers team?
Rembert Browne: I grew up hearing people older than me talk about things that they lived through and how momentous these moments were. As a full-time journalist in 2013 and 2014, when this was happening, as someone that covered it, I remember it feeling like things were changing in celebrity, in sports, politically. Even as the years went by, I remember this moment, this incident, feeling like it left some breadcrumbs about where we were potentially headed.
And so to then circle back a decade later and be able to both creatively and factually explore this project is super good. I think, for the people who are super familiar with it, it’ll feel like a really nice rehash. But I also think there are a lot of folks who just maybe missed this. I think it’s going to be a really cool opportunity for them to experience it for the first time.
Gina Welch: For me, this project has always been about trying to look at what it does to us as a society to have toxic people and power, and what it does to our ability to thrive and be nice to other people and do our jobs. And really what forces exist to keep those systems of power in place, and, really, whose responsibility it is to confront them.
Kevin Bray: For me, Donald Sterling is like the first iteration of the COVID virus, and Trump is the next one that we haven’t seen yet. And so if this sways the 113 votes that they’re going to be lying about when the election happens, or whatever iteration of the falsification of the story, if this sways those people to not choose that man…so that’s very specific. But I do think a lot about that. I think it’s really timely for this to come out just to keep driving home what Gina just described—how niceness matters.
Clipped Plays With Physical Humor
Kevin, in addition to being an EP, you directed a few episodes, including the first one. Can you talk about establishing the right tone to set up this story?
Kevin Bray: I kind of took the script and that informed me tonally, and then we played. We played as far as we could go. We played with physical humor, we played with many, many ideas, and then the actors were another component that brought in that playfulness. When we got into the editing process, our editing staff took that hot potato and made it even more interesting. It was a process.
I’m very funny. Early in my career, I was doing the Jerry Bruckheimer shows, the CSIs and CSI: NY. I, unfortunately, would find reasons to do humor inside some of the most dire circumstances, which never made it to the screen, but that’s what I was always thinking. I think it was really perfect for me to have this handed to me because I could have some fun with it.
On the flip side of that, Rembert, you are a producer, and you wrote the finale, so can you share some insight on what it takes to bring a true story like this to an onscreen conclusion?
Rembert Browne: Gina and I wrote the finale together. We had to land the plane. There was a lot of story that needed to fall in the right place. It was incredible being on it from the writers' room from 2021 to now. I knew these characters so well. I had been thinking about them for years and years and years. I think it was really helpful to understand the things that we really cared about from the writers' room. We cared about Elgin Baylor.
We did not want to lose Elgin Baylor to the forces of a show and to be able to end the show with Elgin is something that felt like we made the show we intended to make. There are a lot of moments in the final episode where it’s like, “Yes, this is how we should leave Doc.” We want them to feel like there is hope in the future. There are things like that that stemmed from conversations three years ago, and I feel super fortunate to have been able to write a lot of those words to bring our show to a close.
About Clipped
FX’s Clipped takes you behind the scenes of a notorious NBA owner’s racist remarks, captured on a tape heard around the world. Based on the hit ESPN 30 for 30 podcast The Sterling Affairs, this limited series charts the collision between a dysfunctional basketball organization and even less functional marriage, and the precipitating tape’s impact on an ensemble of characters striving to win against the backdrop of the most cursed team in the league.
Check back soon for our other interviews with theClippedcast and crew:
Clipped
Cast
“Clipped” takes viewers inside the Los Angeles Clippers' organization during one of its most controversial periods. The series follows Coach Doc Rivers, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, as he navigates the fallout from owner Donald Sterling’s racist remarks. The scandal, captured on tape and broadcast globally, sparks a fierce power struggle involving Sterling, his wife Shelly, and his ambitious assistant V. Stiviano. As Rivers works to keep his team united and focused on winning, the show explores the broader implications of Sterling’s actions and the quest for accountability and change within the sports world.
