FX Orders Limited Series

The Sterling Affairs

Starring Laurence Fishburne and Jacki Weaver

Written by Gina Welch and Based On the ESPN 30 For 30 Podcast The Sterling Affairs

About the Downfall of Disgraced Former LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling

Executive Produced by Welch, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Who Reported and Hosted the Podcast, Director Kevin Bray and Rembert Browne will Serve as Producer

LOS ANGELES, April 4, 2022 – FX has ordered The Sterling Affairs, a six-episode limited series about the downfall of Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling amid the team’s drive to win a championship under coach Doc Rivers, it was announced by Nick Grad, President, Original Programming.

Laurence Fishburne has signed on to star as former Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers and Jacki Weaver will play Shelly Sterling, Donald Sterling’s wife.

The Sterling Affairs is written by Gina Welch and based on the ESPN 30 for 30 Podcast of the same name reported and hosted by Ramona Shelburne.

The Sterling Affairs will be executive produced by Welch (Under the Banner of Heaven, Castle Rock), Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force (American Crime Story, Pose) and Shelburne. Kevin Bray will direct the first block and serve as an executive producer on those episodes. Nellie Reed of Color Force and Rembert Browne will serve as Producer. The series will be produced by FX Productions.

About THE STERLING AFFAIRS

The Sterling Affairs tells the behind the scenes story of Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers’ quest to bring a championship to one of the historically worst franchises in all of sports during the impending downfall of the team’s owner, Donald Sterling, whose notoriously racist behavior is brought to light amid the power struggle between his wife of 60+ years, Shelly Sterling, and his mistress, V. Stiviano.

“Gina Welch has done a tremendous job of adapting this story for FX, showing the historic resolve and grace of Doc Rivers and the Clippers players during this shocking event,” said Grad. “Building on Ramona Shelburne’s groundbreaking reporting, Gina, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson delve even deeper into this pivotal moment in modern sports.”

Laurence J. Fishburne III is an acclaimed actor, producer and director whose legendary career has been capped by Emmy, Tony, NAACP Imagine award wins, and a Best Actor Oscar nomination. At fifteen, Laurence appeared in Apocalypse Now, the first of many cult classics destined to define his long career.

He may be best known for his role as Morpheus in the Wachowksi brothers’ blockbuster The Matrix trilogy, along with credits including Boyz ‘n the Hood, The Color Purple, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Mystic River and cult classics, Deep Cover and King of New York. Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy Productions, founded with his longtime manager and producing partner, Helen Sugland, has produced numerous television shows including the ABC hit series black-ish and its spinoffs.

Fishburne was last seen in Running with the Devil, Annapurna’s highly anticipated adaptation of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Quibi’s movie in chapter #FreeRayshawn and The Ice Road. His newest series “MacGruber” is now streaming on Peacock. Next up for him is Netflix’s The School for Good & Evil, John Wick: Chapter 4, Amazon’s All the Old Knives, Marvel’s Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur for Disney, and American Buffalo on Broadway.

Fishburne is represented by CAA, Landmark Artists Management, and Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang.

Jacki Weaver is an Australian theater, film and television actress well known in her home country for more than 50 years. She is best known outside Australia for her performance in David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom (2010), for which she was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received a National Board of Review Award, her third Australian Film Institute Award and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.

She also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook. Currently, Jacki is wrapping a starring role on the new Apple TV series, Hello Tomorrow! opposite Billy Crudup. On the film side, Jacki can next be seen in Father Stu opposite Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson, for Sony Pictures that will be released later this year.

Previously, Jacki stared in the film Poms with Diane Keaton, Birdbox with Sandra Bullock, the Steve McQueen directed film Widows with Viola Davis, and The Disaster Artist with James Franco and Seth Rogan. On the TV Side, Jacki can also be seen starring in Taylor Sheridan’s series Yellowstone for Paramount+. Prior to that, Jacki stared in the limited series Perpetual Grace, LTD with Sir Ben Kingsley, Jimmi Simpson and Luis Guzman, as well in the second season of the raucous television comedy Blunt Talk, in which she stars with Sir Patrick Stewart.

Weaver is represented by ICM, Elevate Entertainment and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson LLP.

Gina Welch received an AFI Award for FX’s FEUD: Bette and Joan and a WGA Award for her work on Castle Rock. She has also worked on FX’s Under the Banner of Heaven, Station Eleven, The Terror, Ray Donovan, and is the author of the non-fiction book In the Land of Believers.

Welch is represented by CAA, Grandview and Tara Kole.

Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson have forged one of the most well-respected and sought-after production companies in the industry. Straddling both television and film, Color Force is responsible for the critically-acclaimed American Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, American Crime Story: Impeachment, Y: The Last Man and Pose, which have received a total 48 Emmy® nominations. Their film projects include the $2.9 billion grossing Hunger Games franchise, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, and 2018’s groundbreaking Crazy Rich Asians. Jacobson and Simpson have personally won two Emmy® Awards, two Golden Globes, three TCA Awards, three Critics Choice Awards, two PGA Awards, three AFI Awards, two GLAAD Awards, as well as a BAFTA Award, an NAACP Award and a Peabody.

Jacobson and Simpson are represented by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham LLP. Reed is represented by Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.

Ramona Shelburne has been a Senior Writer at ESPN since 2009, appearing across all platforms on the network’s NBA coverage. She won a Pro Basketball Writers of America award for her coverage of the Clippers in 201. For The Sterling Affairs 30 for 30 podcast in 2019, she won a Gracie Award for Best Investigative Podcast, the National Association of Black Journalists Award for Best Sports Podcast, a Webby Award and an iHeartRadio Award.

Shelburne is represented by CAA.

About FX 

FX, a division of Disney General Entertainment, is a multiplatform brand that develops, produces, commissions and markets original programming for Hulu and the FX and FXX linear channels in the U.S., and Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other international territories.

The FX brand mark appears above the title across its entire slate of originals. Over the past two decades, FX has been responsible for some the most-critically acclaimed and award-winning shows on television. Some of the brand’s current and legacy titles include the dramas American Horror Story, American Crime Story, The Americans, Damages, Fargo, Justified, Nip/Tuck, Pose, Rescue Me, The Shield and Sons of Anarchy; the comedies Archer, Atlanta, Better Things, DAVE, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows; and a growing slate of docuseries and documentary films.

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