ESPN will suffer a major loss at the start of September, as Jemele Hill will leave the network to pursue other ventures. Hill has been with ESPN since 2006 and has done everything from write for ESPN The Magazine to serve as a host for her own version of SportsCenter alongside Michael Smith.
The news of Hill’s departure first came via Jim Miller and was eventually confirmed by Richard Deitsch of The Athletic.
Coming 9/1 an amicable departure / buyout for @jemelehill from @espn Been a long time coming #JemeleHill #ESPN
— james andrew miller (@JimMiller) August 26, 2018
As first reported by @JimMiller, @jemelehill is leaving ESPN. She approached management. Hill and @KelleyLCarter have a production company — Lodge Freeway Media — so that will be part of her post-ESPN world. She leaves ESPN in September after wrapping up some stuff.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 26, 2018
Miller also reported that the news of this departure came after a meeting that Hill requested with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro, something to which Deitsch alluded in his tweet.
.@jemelehill departure comes after meeting she requested w/ @espn prez Pitaro #JemeleHill
— james andrew miller (@JimMiller) August 26, 2018
Hill’s most prominent role with ESPN came about in early 2017, when she became co-host of SC6, a version of SportsCenter that aired weekdays at 6 p.m. Several months into her tenure with the show, Hill became a source of controversy, as she used her Twitter account as a medium through which she criticized Donald Trump, calling him a white supremacist. This was partly because White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used her platform to call for Hill’s firing, while the president also tweeted about his dismay with the network. Beyond this, Hill was suspended for criticisms of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, which led to Trump using social media to criticize her once more.
Most recently, Hill has served as a writer for The Undefeated while pursuing other interests with the company. There is no word on exactly what Hill plans to do next beyond work for her production company.
