The firestorm surrounding Jemele Hill’s tweets about Donald Trump being a white supremacist and ESPN’s response had seemingly finally died down, but the SportsCenter host found herself back in hot water with her employer due to her Twitter account on Sunday.
Hill took to Twitter on Sunday to rip Jerry Jones and the Cowboys after the Dallas owner said any player that took a knee during the national anthem wouldn’t be allowed to play. Hill noted Cowboys fans could send the message to Jones that his comments wouldn’t be tolerated by not buying merchandise or watching games.
If only Greg Hardy had kneeled … https://t.co/H6ifF24aIY
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
Jerry Jones also has created a problem for his players, specifically the black ones. If they don't kneel, some will see them as sellouts.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
No, I think the Cowboy fans — the paying customers — need to pick up this fight. Don't look to Dez or Dak. YOU do it. https://t.co/f9YjZFgGGt
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
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
Cowboys have a huge national following. Lot of black & brown folks are Cowboys fans. What if they turned their backs on them? https://t.co/qezpPwDTAB
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
If the rationale behind JJ's stance is keeping the fanbase happy, make him see that he is underestimated how all of his fanbase feels https://t.co/45ZDibcWNH
— 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
Hill tried to clarify her comments on Monday.
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
If fans really are that upset about what JJ & Stephen Ross have done, don't call the players sellouts, but you're watching every Sunday.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
While Hill’s tweets about Donald Trump caused plenty of backlash for ESPN, tweeting about not watching the NFL, a league in which ESPN has a massive rights deal with, is apparently an even bigger no-no at the Worldwide Leader. Unsurprisingly, the network released a statement on Monday afternoon announcing Hill had been suspended for two weeks for a second violation of their social media policy.
ESPN's Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/JkVoBVz7lv
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 9, 2017
While ESPN points to a second violation of the policy as the reason for the suspension, one has to think the call for fans to stop watching Cowboys games or buying from advertisers (with some likely also have ESPN partnerships) was the real issue here. There will be plenty that come after ESPN for this move, and there are certainly valid arguments for criticizing ESPN for how it bends to the NFL’s will.
However, Hill herself noted in her tweets to Cowboys fans that large corporations or billionaire owners are almost always going to do whats best for the bottom line and make adjustments accordingly. For ESPN, the NFL affects its bottom line more than anything, so this can’t come as much of a surprise.
