Her recordings of Clippers owner Donald Sterling sent shockwaves through the NBA and eventually led to his lifetime ban and a $2.5 million fine. Where V Stiviano is now is a reasonable question because she certainly had her 15 minutes of fame back in 2014.
She reportedly met Donald Sterling at a Super Bowl party in 2010. He gave her a job at the Clippers shortly after. According to The Sterling Affairs podcast, V often told staff she “was going to be the next Mrs. Sterling.” Over the years working with him, Stiviano recorded many of their conversations because he started to forget what he’d said to her thanks to early Alzheimer’s symptoms. The tapes, she said, were to help him remember their conversations—but that would all cause a media frenzy on April 25, 2014. Here’s where V Stiviano is now.
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Where’s V Stiviano now?
The last we heard from V Stiviano was in 2018 when she gave an interview with TMZ. “Everyone’s making such a big deal over every small little thing,” she said when they asked her to comment on Roseanne Barr’s firing for racist remarks. “No one has freedom of speech anymore! No one can say what they feel because if they do, they’re gonna lose their job,” adding, “Everyone’s a little bit racist.” Her last public outing captured by photographers was the 4th Annual Holiday Gala to Benefit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in December 2019.
She has an Instagram account, @vanessastiviano, but she doesn’t use it. It’s very possible she’s using an alias because she’s been known to in the past. Stiviano was born Maria Vanessa Perez but legally changed her name to V. In addition to Vanness Maria Perez and Monica Gallegos, court records show she also used the names Maria Valdez, Maria Vanessa Perez and Mariamonica Perez Gallegos, per TMZ.
According to the New York Daily News, Stiviano had a checkered history with petty crime, including two arrests for shoplifting—once at a Ross store in 2002 and again at Old Navy in 2004. Her record was published by TMZ in 2014, showing DUI and possession of controlled substances charges.
After the explosive leak of his racist remarks during one of their conversations, Stiviano and Sterling (understandably) had a falling out and he sued her for an invasion of privacy. He later withdrew the lawsuit for an undisclosed reason.
In 2015, Donald’s wife Shelly successfully sued V, accusing her of targeting extremely wealthy older men. She claimed her husband had used the couple’s money to buy Stiviano a Ferrari, two Bentleys, and a Range Rover, and that he helped her get a $1.8 million duplex. An LA judge ordered Stiviano to pay back more than $2.6 million in gifts.
“This is a victory for the Sterling family in recovering the $2,630,000 that Donald lavished on a conniving mistress,” attorney Pierce O’Donnell said in a statement, per CNN at the time. “It also sets a precedent that the injured spouse can recover damages from the recipient of these ill-begotten gifts.”
