Mistress claims former Clippers owner Donald Sterling is gay

The ex-mistress of Donald Sterling is claiming that she never had sex with the disgraced former Los Angeles Clippers owner because he is gay.

In court documents, V. Stiviano says the 80-year-old Sterling is gay and she acted as a "beard" for him for three years, the Courthouse News Service reports.

The allegations were made in a response to lawsuit filed by Rochelle Sterling, Donald Sterling's wife, and in a cross-complaint that says Rochelle Sterling defamed Stiviano by making theft and embezzlement allegations about her.

The documents say that Stiviano "was not ever a sexual partner of Donald T. Sterling" and she "is informed and believes that DTS is a homosexual and enjoys sexual acts and or sexual congress with males," according to the news service.

Stiviano also says Rochelle Sterling, who goes by Shelly, was "acutely aware of DTS' sexual orientation "and "acknowledged and approved" her husband's gifts to Stiviano, the news service reported.

The legal wrangling over Sterling's personal life comes in the wake of the NBA banning him for life and imposing a $2.5 million fine after Stiviano caught him on tape making racist comments, which were published online in April.

Sterling was forced to give control of the Clippers to his wife, who reached an agreement to sell the team to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

Shelly Sterling's lawsuit against Stiviano, which was filed in March, claims the mistress seduced her husband to receive gifts like property and cash.