SportsCenter host Jemele Hill found herself in hot water with ESPN last month when she called Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Hill's comments a "fireable offense," and Trump tweeted his demand for an apology. Both ESPN and Hill responded by issuing apologies, and Hill's job remained safe. However, her delightfully fiery Twitter personality has gotten her in trouble again, and ESPN is suspending her for two weeks.
As explained in a statement shared on ESPN's PR Twitter, the company is suspending her for "a second violation of our social media guidelines."
The statement explains that all ESPN employees were reminded that their personal tweets can reflect negatively on ESPN, and that those who post controversial tweets will face consequences, adding, "Hence this decision." Basically, ESPN is just trying to teach Hill a lesson and make an example of her. Very mature, guys.
And now, the moment you've been waiting for. Here are the tweets in question:
Hill's tweets are in response to a recent proclamation by Jerry Jones, the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys. Jones stated that the Cowboys will bench any player who takes a knee during the national anthem. The Take a Knee movement, which involves football players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality, has caused endless controversy over the past few weeks.
In this new set of tweets, Hill suggests that people who strongly disagree with Jerry Jones should boycott the Cowboys' major advertisers, explaining that "Change happens when advertisers are impacted."
But perhaps the best response came from comedy writer Travon Free, who wants ESPN to put its money where its mouth is. We'll definitely keep an eye out for those rules...