Jemele Hill believes that her suspension from ESPN for tweets she made about the #TakeAKnee campaign was “deserved.”
The ESPN analyst gave an impromptu airport interview with TMZ where she said she put ESPN “in a bad spot” with her social media behavior.
“So, here’s how this works: It doesn’t really matter what I think,” she said. “It matters to people, but here’s the reality: ESPN acted 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.”
In response to the Dallas Cowboys owner issuing an ultimatum to players — stand for the national anthem or be sidelined — Hill had tweeted, “If you strongly reject what Jerry Jones said, the key is his advertisers. Don’t place the burden squarely on the players.”
It was the second time in recent months that Hill’s tweets had caused controversy. She was in trouble in September for tweeting her criticism of President Trump. ESPN chose to suspend her for two weeks for violating the company’s social media policy.
Her suspension prompted an immediate outcry, and raised questions about censorship, race, and journalism.
But it appears that Hill is defending her employer: “The only thing I’ll ever apologize for is, I put ESPN in a bad spot,” she 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.”
But one thing she made clear is that she did not regret her words.
“I’ll never take back what I said.”
Hill will return to SC6 with co-host Michael Smith on Monday.