Weeks after ESPN disavowed SC6 anchor Jemele Hill’s tweets calling President Donald Trump a white supremacist and reportedly contemplated pulling her off-air, only to settle for an apology and no punishment (after Disney CEO Bob Iger got involved), they have now actually suspended her following a further Twitter controversy. Here’s the statement ESPN PR sent out Monday:
ESPN's Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/JkVoBVz7lv
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 9, 2017
What did Hill do this time? Well, the statement doesn’t specify, but it seems likely it’s about tweets she sent calling for Dallas Cowboys fans to boycott the team’s sponsors in the wake of owner Jerry Jones’ comments that any Cowboys’ players “disrespecting the flag” won’t play. Here are some of those tweets:
No, I think the Cowboy fans — the paying customers — need to pick up this fight. Don't look to Dez or Dak. YOU do it. https://t.co/f9YjZFgGGt
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
Don't ask Dak, Dez & other Cowboys players to protest. A more powerful statement is if you stop watching and buying their merchandise.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
Or, how about not patronizing the advertisers who support the Cowboys? You can watch and do that, right? https://t.co/duPNqxFta7
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
Here's a few:
AT&T
Bank of America
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Ford Motor
MillerCoors
PepsiCo— Randy Moore (@OfficiallyRandy) October 9, 2017
This play always work. Change happens when advertisers are impacted. If you feel strongly about JJ's statement, boycott his advertisers. https://t.co/LFXJ9YQe74
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
If you strongly reject what Jerry Jones said, the key is his advertisers. Don't place the burden squarely on the players. https://t.co/Gc48kchkuv
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
Hill would later attempt to clarify her comments.
Just so we're clear: I'm not advocating a NFL boycott. But an unfair burden has been put on players in Dallas & Miami w/ anthem directives.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
That led to stories from conservative sites like Fox News, and to a further amount of anti-Hill backlash. But with this move, ESPN will likely again be criticized from all sides. Many right-wing critics won’t be happy that she was only suspended and not fired, while left-wing critics will be outraged that Hill was punished (and this time, for commenting on a sports issue). It’s notable that many of those Cowboys’ sponsors are also ESPN sponsors, though, so there’s a corporate interest at play here. And as we saw with Bill Simmons and Curt Schilling, there’s nothing ESPN hates more than people who cross a line after being told not to.
ESPN says it suspended Hill because 1) she suggested boycotting ESPN sponsors; and 2) she had been warned about these types of tweets.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) October 9, 2017
This is a pretty harsh suspension by ESPN standards, though. It’s not as high as the three weeks Simmons got for calling Roger Goodell a liar, but it’s longer than, for example, the week Stephen A. Smith got for saying women have a responsibility to prevent domestic violence against them, or the week Sean Salisbury got for lewd photos, or the week Will Selva got for plagiarizing a newspaper report during a highlight.
But if anything is consistent about ESPN discipline, it’s its inconsistency. And that’s how you don’t get suspended for calling the president a white supremacist, but get two weeks for suggesting fans upset with the Cowboys should boycott their sponsors. But hey, the latter probably annoyed advertisers more, and Robert Lipsyte’s comments that “there is no ideology at ESPN beyond the bottom line” are still very true.
