In 2017, while working at ESPN, Jemele Hill was criticized for telling the truth about Donald Trump. As with so many things, Hill was ahead of her time. She called Trump a white supremacist. Which was accurate. He was then and is now. But then, not as many people were saying it publicly, and this made Hill a target for the right wing. She received numerous threats (some of them frightening) and was called racial slurs hundreds of times.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Hill should be fired. Trump demanded she apologize. She was later suspended for two weeks after the network said she violated the company's social media policy a second time. Hill said fans should boycott the Dallas Cowboys' sponsors because of Jerry Jones' stance on players kneeling for the national anthem.
Why is this important now? Because at the time, ESPN had its ear to the ground, listening carefully to right-wing news sources, ran scared, and failed Hill. Now, seven years later, ESPN hosts the "Pat McAfee Show" and on it, Rodgers essentially called one of ABC's biggest stars in Jimmy Kimmel a pedophile.
ESPN's hypocrisy seems clear. Black woman tells the truth and she's punished. Two white men either provide the platform for lies, as McAfee does, or lie themselves like Rodgers does, and the punishment is almost non-existent. There was an apology from McAfee and an ESPN executive, and doubling down by Rodgers, but no one, as far as we know, was disciplined for the entire sordid mess.
Hill has watched all of this and as she always does, offers an intelligent, nuanced and powerful response.
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"I can see why people look at what happened to me as an example of ESPN's hypocrisy, but it proves how much context of the moment matters," Hill said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. "When I called Donald Trump a white supremacist, the political climate was different. If I said that today, I don't know if it would garner the same reaction because people these days call Donald Trump a white supremacist like it's his first name.
"At the same time, there's also a thriving culture war in this country and I do wonder if ESPN's tepid response to Aaron Rodgers' reckless opinions is influenced by criticisms that they aren't as receptive to the viewpoints that are embraced in conservative circles, like the anti-vaccination movement. For sure when I was suspended, ESPN was very sensitive to the criticisms they were too liberal and left-leaning. This feels sort of similar."
In other words, ESPN catered to the right by suspending Hill, and are catering to the right again by not more forcefully rebuking Rodgers. I'd argue that if Hill was suspended for saying something that's accurate, why doesn't more happen to McAfee for trafficking those lies?
Hill again had a cogent response.
"ESPN made a conscious decision to be in business with Pat McAfee because they want access to his audience," Hill said. "As a talent, McAfee is very unique and very different than what most people are accustomed to seeing on ESPN. Aaron Rodgers is cost of doing business with McAfee. And while I'm sure they knew that there would be some controversies that naturally came about with this show, I'm sure they never anticipated that Rodgers would insinuate that one of ABC's biggest stars is a pedophile. Based off how ESPN and Disney have both responded, it's fair to say they do believe the juice is worth the squeeze."
This has long been true: Hill is one of the smartest people in my industry. When she speaks, you should listen. Of all the things said over the past few days, and even months, about McAfee, Rodgers and the bedlam Rodgers has created, what Hill says about it all is so dead on it should be required reading for every executive inside the network. Hell, every network. Hell, every person who is trying to manage in these 21st century media streets full of misinformation, intenseracism, and a divided nation that seems on the doorstep of autocracy. Hill is qualified to speak about it all.
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But what she says about ESPN is important now because of, well, recent events.
McAfee may not have technically violated any of ESPN's policies but his enabling of Rodgers has humiliated the network. Normally, this type of thing leads to massive changes and has huge repercussions. Someone usually loses a job. But I think ESPN isn't taking more drastic action because it's afraid of the reaction of right-wing media and politicians.
If ESPN banned Rodgers, Trump would go on his social site and talk about Rodgers being canceled and how the libs are somethin' something' DEI somethin' somethin'. This is truly what ESPN fears.
Rodgers doesn't have to stick to sports. LeBron James must. Jemele Hill was essentially required to do the same.
"ESPN is never going to be able to have a one-size fits all response to these controversies," Hill said. "Everybody's leverage is different and the reality is, the more money you make at ESPN, the more liberties you'll have. It's the way in every business, in every industry. But this does illustrate just how disingenuous those "stick to sports" narratives are.
"How people respond to hearing athletes' opinions about non-sports topics is greatly influenced by whether they agree on disagree with the topic. When it comes to racism, structural racism, and inequality, those are topics that sadly aren't going to get the same level of consideration as spouting baseless conspiracy theories about a vaccine."
Hill is a great truth teller but she's also a cautionary tale for ESPN. The culture wars are real and the network is part of it whether they want to believe that or not. And ESPN has spent more time bending to the will of the extreme right. Rodgers is proof of that.
So act accordingly, ESPN.