Ed O’Neill to Play Donald Sterling in FX Limited Series ‘The Sterling Affairs’

Ed O’Neill is set to play Donald Sterling in the upcoming FX limited series “The Sterling Affairs,” Variety has learned.

The show was picked up to series at FX back in April. It is based on the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast of the same name. O’Neill joins previously announced stars Laurence Fishburne and Jacki Weaver.

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The six-episode series tells the behind the scenes story of Doc Rivers (Fishburne) 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 (O’Neill), whose notoriously racist behavior is brought to light amid the power struggle between his wife of 60+ years, Shelly Sterling (Weaver), and his mistress, V. Stiviano.

This will mark O’Neill’s first TV role since the finale of “Modern Family” in 2020. O’Neill starred on the single-cam sitcom throughout its eleven-season run on ABC. He earned three Emmy nominations for his time on the show. O’Neill is also well known for starring in the hit Fox sitcom “Married…With Children,” which also ran for eleven seasons. He has previously starred in features like “The Last Shift,” “The Bone Collector,” “Little Giants,” “Dutch,” and “The Spanish Prisoner.”

He is repped by Gersh and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Gina Welch serve as writer and executive producer on “The Sterling Affairs.” Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force also executive produce along with Color Force’s Nellie Reed. Ramona Shelburne, the reporter and host behind the original podcast, will executive produce as well. Kevin Bray will direct the first block of episodes and serve as an executive producer on those episodes. Rembert Browne is a producer. FX Productions will produce.

Jacobson and Simpson have a successful history with FX. The pair currently executive produce “American Crime Story” for the cabler, and are currently prepping both “American Sports Story” and “American Love Story.” They previously executive produced the critically-acclaimed FX series “Pose,” which wrapped up its run on the network in 2021 after three seasons. Color Force is currently under an overall deal with FX Productions.

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