Jemele Hill Comments on Her ESPN Suspension: “I Deserved That”
Fans and followers were quick to show their support of ESPN SportsCenter broadcaster Jemele Hill when she received backlash from the Trump Administration, as well as her network following some tweets she shared expressing her opinion on the POTUS being a white supremacist. That support still ran deep for the broadcaster after it was reported by ESPN on Oct. 9 that Hill would be suspended due to those tweets, a direct violation of the social media guidelines for the network.
Hill is increasingly using her platform to state her opinions and after being met with public outcry due to her Trump tweets, Hill quickly found herself in hot water once again when she suggested that fans of the NFL boycott advertisers in connection with the Dallas Cowboys. Her suggestion followed the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones publically declaring that any player that chose to kneel during the National Anthem would find themselves permanently on the bench.
“Just so we’re clear,” Hill clarified in her Oct. 9 tweets, “I’m not advocating a NFL boycott. But an unfair burden has been put on players in Dallas & Miami w/ anthem directives.”
The aftermath of Hill’s suspension has made for a much less active Hill – on social media at least. TMZ ran into the correspondent on October 22 and Hill was very forthcoming about feeling as though the suspension was deserved.
“Me and ESPN are fine. We’re in a good place and I’m happy to be back at the network,” she said. “So, here’s how this works: It doesn’t really matter what I think. It matters to people, but here’s the reality: ESPN acted on what they felt was right, and, you know, I don’t have any argument or quibble with that. I would tell people, absolutely, after my Donald Trump tweets, I deserved that suspension. I deserved it. Like, absolutely. I violated the policy; I deserved that suspension.”
Hill’s feelings about ESPN continued to be understanding and although she notably stood by her Trump comments, she acknowledged her regret for putting her network in such an uncomfortable position.
“The only thing I’ll ever apologize for is, I put ESPN in a bad spot. I’ll never take back what I said. I put them in a bad spot, that’s the truth of it. I regret the position I put them in. I regret, a lot of the people I work with, the position we put our show in. I’ll never take back what I said.”
Hill is set to return to her job on the small screen as a co-host with Michael Smith on SC6 today (Oct. 23). Welcome back!
Photo Credit: Jemele Hill/Twitter
