Jemele Hill has been suspended by ESPN for a second violation of the Disney-owned cable channel’s social media guidelines.
The “SportsCenter” anchor used Twitter to call for a boycott of Dallas Cowboys-advertisers after team owner Jerry Jones demanded his players stand for the national anthem or be benched. That didn’t go over well with her employer.
“Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for a second violation of our social media guidelines,” ESPN said in a statement. “She previously acknowledged letting her colleagues and company do with an impulsive tweet.”
That line referred to her calling President Trump a “white supremacist” a few weeks back. She had some unkind things to say about his supporters, as well, though Hill got off with just a warning.
“In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences,” the Monday statement continued. “Hence this decision.”
Here are some of the tweets Hill sent out on Sunday that landed her in hot water, in chronological order:
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
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
The “JJ” in question above is Jones, if you couldn’t do that math.
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
Today, Hill walked her day-ago tweets back a bit:
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
It seems worth pointing out that ESPN is a key business partner of the National Football League, and the Cowboys are the league’s most valuable franchise. Dallas was recently on the network’s “Monday Night Football,” which drew huge TV ratings.
As a matter of fact, that was the very week the “Star-Spangled Banner” boycott was at its buzziest. Before their national anthem opportunity, Jones and his team kneeled together, locking arms. They stood for the actual song.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started to #TakeAKnee last August, when he began quietly sitting out the national anthem in protest of racism and police brutality in this country. The whole thing exploded this season when Donald Trump called for protesting NFL players to be released from their teams.