ESPN’s Jemele Hill, in her first interview since leaving “SportsCenter,” told Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” Sunday that her move to ESPN’s The Undefeated website was “definitely, 100 percent, my choice” and should leave her less constrained when it comes to commentary “about issues revolving around race and sports.”
Hill characterized her job change as less of a retreat from taking stands than an effort to ensure she was on a proper platform to do so.
“‘SportsCenter’ is the legacy brand at ESPN, I had a great year doing the show,” Hill said on MSNBC. “But it was not a fit for me because ultimately I had a lot of things that I really wanted to say and wanted to express, and the ‘SportsCenter’ vehicle is not necessarily set up for that. So I wanted to be on a property that was.”
Hill stoked controversy with tweets calling President Donald Trump “a white supremacist,” “a bigot” and “unqualified and unfit to be president” and later, after being reminded of ESPN’s social media policies, for suggesting fans upset with how NFL owners respond to player protests during the national anthem should consider sponsor boycotts.
The Trump tweets, which ESPN disavowed as not representing its views, brought calls for Hill’s dismissal from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Trump supporters. Hill said she was sorry for not making it clear she didn’t represent ESPN.
Hill’s subsequent NFL anthem protest tweets brought a suspension from the Disney-owned company, which has a great deal of money invested in NFL rights fees. It contributed to an impetus to update ESPN’s social media policies, more clearly delineating what is permitted to be posted by ESPN staffers and which jobs might preclude someone from offering personal views.
“Maybe a lot of people probably didn’t know this, but I spent the majority of my career in print journalism,” Hill told Sharpton. “ESPN hired me in 2006 to be a print columnist and so I often, you know, wrote commentary, especially about issues revolving around race and sports.
“So The Undefeated is a natural home for me, given that it’s a site about the intersection between sports, African-Americans, race, culture. It mixes all those things that I think are even more vital, now, to discuss, and I wanted to do it on a platform that was deeply aligned with who I was as a person.”
Hill is expected to contribute on several ESPN programs as well.
Sharpton asked if Hill was surprised that President Trump’s State of the Union address alluded to protests by players during the anthem. She wasn’t.
“I think this is going to be probably a constant thing for the president because it’s a very easy dog whistle,” Hill said. “It’s low hanging fruit. It’s what I like to call ‘racial pornography’ because it’s a way to stoke his base.
“In a weird way, I think it’s kind of weirdly brilliant because he has been able to hijack the entire conversation and to make this about patriotism. And, really, if anybody knew just even the smallest bit of American history, they would understand that what the players have chosen to do is the most patriotic thing that you could, and Colin Kaepernick, who this conversation started with, and still is very much the foundation of this conversation.”
Hill’s final “SC6,” seen at 5 p.m. weekdays in Chicago but so named because of its East Coast time slot, was Friday. She thanked the show’s staff and co-host Michael Smith, with whom she previously was paired on “His & Hers” as well.
“This year has been interesting, to say the least, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of highs,” Hill said. “While we won’t be doing this show together, certainly our friendship is not ending … You all (are) still going to see me on TV.”
Said Smith, who now will be the solo anchor of “SC6”: “We’re all proud of you, and as your friend, I’m happy that you’re happy. That’s the most important thing.”
philrosenthal@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @phil_rosenthal
