ESPN’s Jemele Hill returned to the 6:00pm ET “SportsCenter” last night after a two-week suspension, saying she was “glad to be back.” Hill said to co-host Michael Smith, “I want to say to you, in front of everybody, I love you. You’re my brother. Thank you for holding this down while I was gone.” Smith hosted the show by himself the last two weeks, and he said to Hill he “didn’t give your seat away to anybody.” Hill was disciplined for suggesting fans boycott Cowboys sponsors in the wake of Jerry Jones stating players on his team would be benched for “disrespecting the flag” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 10/24). THE RINGER's Bryan Curtis noted a "key meeting happened Sunday" when Hill sat down with ESPN President John Skipper. Sources said that the meeting "occurred away from the Bristol campus; Hill and Skipper were alone." It was the "first time the two met since September 13, two days after Hill called President Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter and the day that the Trump White House called for her to be fired." Hill and Skipper "started on good footing," as Skipper three years ago "insisted on rebranding 'Numbers Never Lie,' Hill and Michael Smith’s old ESPN2 show, as 'His & Hers,' a move that cemented their TV careers." Hill's agent Evan Dick said, "People saying he’s not supportive of Jemele is categorically false." Curtis noted Hill could decide she "wants to work at a place that leans into criticizing Trump rather than one that tries to carve out a woke-but-not-that-woke safe space." However, sources said that "we’re not there ... yet" (THERINGER.com, 10/22).
WHAT LIES AHEAD? SALON.com's Rachel Leah wrote the question of "what's next" looms over Hill and ESPN. Will the net "hold firm to the line that separates a journalist from an activist?" That border is "now more blurry than ever." Additionally, Hill "covers sports, an arena that is increasingly becoming a political and cultural battleground." Hill's "smart, informed, activated voice is vital to that debate, not only as an advocate, but as someone who can speak and broadcast with nuance about a complicated subject." ESPN needs Hill "at the broadcast desk simply because she's become a necessary voice and an inadvertent part of this debate." The net must know that its "coverage of that front-page issue would be incomplete without her." However, ESPN also must be aware that "keeping her around makes advertisers and many ESPN stakeholders itchy" (SALON.com, 10/23).
TREAD LIGHTLY: In Seattle, Evan Webeck notes ESPN's Kenny Mayne through his Twitter account has "raised thousands of dollars for relief efforts around the globe," though he also posts frequent "criticisms" of Trump. Mayne said of ESPN's social media policy, "The rule is fuzzy, because it’s all subjective. I’ve said a few things today someone could say, ‘Oh my God, you attacked the president.’ I think I said it in a clever enough way that I didn’t say ‘I hate this man.’ ... I think I’m still on the right side of the line -- whatever the line is." Webeck noted the "so-called line that Hill crossed but Mayne hasn’t isn’t abundantly clear." Mayne "isn’t so much looking to engage with people on Twitter." He said Hill "fell into the trap of getting into a back and forth with somebody" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/24).
