ESPN suspends Jemele Hill for 2 weeks for voicing her opinion

[iluvtennis]

Link to tweet

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So, Don the Con can voice an opinion that the NFL owners fire their players for taking a knee. But, Jemele Hill can't voice an opinion about boycotting advertisers. My, oh, my, American democracy and 1st Amendment rights and going down the toilet

[Botany]

1. Jemele Hill spoke the truth Donald Trump is a white supremacist

Although urging a boycott of Dallas Cowboy's advertisers wasn't a smart thing to do ....
the NFL and ESPN is all about money

[iluvtennis]

3. Yes, It's all about the money. My wish would be for the players to strike...

...when the owners start losing money, they'll gladly let the players take a knee in silent protests.

Can you imagine the players going on strike and the owners having to return $ to the season ticket holders and then the other tickets not being able to be sold, no TV, no concessions, no parking, no arena staff workers, etc, etc. Thre would be BIG economic impacts if the players did a walk out.

BTW, the NFL is big $$. It's been 3/4 years since I last went to a game. We spent over $700 for a family of 4 to go see the Raiders between, the tickets ($600), parking ($35), food & drinks ($75/$100), souvenirs ($50). They make BIH MONEY in the NFL/other team sports.

[LonePirate]

8. A players strike may be needed and we should be prepared to assist and side with the players.

[oberliner]

2. Curt Schilling, ESPN Analyst, Is Fired Over Offensive Social Media Post

Curt Schilling, a former All-Star pitcher and one of the highest-profile baseball analysts on ESPN, was fired from the network Wednesday, a day after he drew intense criticism for promoting offensive commentary on social media.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/sports/baseball/curt-schilling-is-fired-by-espn.html

[iluvtennis]

4. Schilling went way beyond voicing an opinion though... see this text from article

The post showed an overweight man wearing a wig and women’s clothing with parts of the T-shirt cut out to expose his breasts. It says: “LET HIM IN! to the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving racist bigot who needs to die.”

To that, Schilling added: “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

Had he just voiced opinion about laws on restrooms, I would be supportive of him.

[oberliner]

6. Yeah - and he got fired, not suspended

I don't know if ESPN has a policy about political comments - doesn't seem like they do, generally.

[PdxSean]

14. Closest thing I could find.

A memo — which ESPN claims was circulated in early January 2016 — requires employees to “refrain from political editorializing, personal attacks or ‘drive-by’ comments regarding the candidates and their campaigns (including but not limited to on platforms such as Twitter or other social media). Mike Ditka was dinged by the same policy.

https://deadspin.com/leaked-memo-espn-urges-talent-to-avoid-political-comme-1754118407

[rockfordfile]

12. I think he was crook

[snooper2]

5. doesn't have anything to do with the first Amendment

[rockfordfile]

10. True. This is about fascism.

[cwydro]

7. This is a damn shame.

And wrong.

[SaschaHM]

9. By "suggested", she simply stated that

if fans didn't like what Jerry Jones was doing (mandatory flag humping), they could boycott his advertisers which given the political climate around NFL boycotts (i.e. the President and the Republicans calling for one) seems like a pretty factual statement for a sports journalist to make. Heck, her comments were in response to people suggesting that the onus of response to JJ was on the players and that they could make a difference.

It be like Rachel Maddow getting suspended for saying that instead of people forcing the workers at a company to take on an unpopular corporate position, they could make a difference by boycotting it's advertisers.

If anything, Jemele being suspended is going to bring about a firestorm that not only engulfs the Cowboys, but ESPN as well.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. I wish I knew how to hurt ESPN over this, but

just not watching the network will not do anything at all.
IF anyone knows how to actually let them know they made a horrible decision by doing this, please post it.

[PdxSean]

15. Mike Ditka and Curt Shilling were dinged by the same policy.

I'm not a sports fan, so I don't watch ESPN. However, I can totally appreciate that the policy appears to be applied crossed the board.

Re ESPN's policy on public political statements by their tv personalities: https://deadspin.com/leaked-memo-espn-urges-talent-to-avoid-political-comme-1754118407

[Captain Stern]

13. She did get suspended for voicing her opinion, but her first amendment rights are still intact.

The first amendment protects her from the government restricting her right to voice her opinion. The first amendment doesn't guarantee her a job at ESPN.

[iluvtennis]

16. IMHO, she got suspended for using her 1st Amendment rights to voice an opinion, it's not right.

[leftynyc]

20. Then you don't understand the first amendment

Which only protects you from the GOVERNMENT. There is zero protection from your employer. Nobody is guaranteed a job.

[Blue_Tires]

17. How does that work?

Just a couple of weeks ago it was Trump who was calling for a national boycott of the NFL, and now when Hill does it she's persona non grata?

[Orrex]

19. Trump doesn't work for ESPN (though I'd love to see him fired, of course)

If part of Hill's contract spells out acceptable use of social media, then she's kind of stuck with the consequences. In this age, I can't imagine that a media figure's contract wouldn't include such provisions.


Trump has enjoyed a lifetime of zero consequences. In a just world, we'd get to see someone shit on his face five times a day.