It was in today's Washington Post.
Admittedly, that doesn't preclude it being a joke....
"Patricia Waring, who described herself as the wife of Allen's rugby coach in 1978 and 1979, said she overheard Allen repeatedly using the epithet during a match in 1978. She said she confronted Allen at the time, urging him not to use that word.
"I heard to my left, the N-word, and I heard it again, and I looked around and heard it again," she said. "And there was this fellow sitting on the ground. He was putting on red rugby shoes -- it is seared in my brain, believe me. And he was kind of showing off, I guess, but he was telling a story and . . . in the story was a lot of N-words."
More brain searing from the left, LOL!