*Outspoken sports journalist Jemele Hill will leave ESPN at the start of September, Deadline reports, and the news comes months after her departure as a co-anchor from the network’s SportsCenter.
According to Bossip, Hill will receive a little under $6 million from ESPN to fulfill the multi-year deal she signed in 2016.
Author and journalist James Andrew Miller was the first to drop word of her exit, on Twitter, Variety noted. Hill is believed to have met recently with new ESPN President James Pitaro to discuss her exit.
Hill’s relationship with the network has been explosive since she took to social media last year to call Donald Trump a “white supremacist.”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Serena and Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens Headline 2018 US Open
A few weeks later, the award-winning journo was suspended by ESPN over tweets on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones anti-kneeling stance on the national anthem protests.
“Change happens when advertisers are impacted.,” Hill tweeted. “If you feel strongly about JJ’s statement, boycott his advertisers.”
She continued to speak her mind on Twitter about various political issues, which ultimately led to Saturday’s departure announcement.
“So much of my career at ESPN – almost exclusively at some points – has been in commentary,” she told Variety.“They hired me as a columnist. I’ve been giving my opinion since day one,”
Meanwhile, she is scheduled to appear on Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard this week and on TheUndefeated.com with content related to the US Open.
In a recent interview with Detroit Metro Times, Hill expressed a desire to get more involved in production.
“I know that whenever I kick off the next iteration of my career, it will involve me getting more deeply involved in producing original content,” she said. There are avenues opening up for women of color to provide different perspectives that’s something we really wanted to take a hard look at.”
To that end, Hill will focus her energy on her new production company Lodge Freeway Media, where she will concentrate on future endeavors that reflect her socially-conscious voice.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
