Throughout this month we have brought you “Jemele’s Journey” with our own Al Martin, who sat down with national writer and television broadcaster Jemele Hill. Today, we bring you the final installment of the month-long special. Hill addresses why she decided to leave the national sports broadcasting mothership: ESPN.
Hill also tells of her new ventures within the world of sports reporting and beyond.
Jemele Hill parted ways from ESPN in October of 2018. The outspoken media personality, who joined ESPN in 2006, had more than two years left on her contract, but eventually Hill and the network felt it was best to part ways. Hill accepted a buyout on her contract.
Hill became a co-anchor, alongside Michael Smith, for ESPN's flagship show, Sportscenter. But, differences in the show's production led to Hill and Smith not being happy with the overall product.
"For me it was not a great experience for a lot of different reasons. It wasn't my calling," says Hill. "We (Hill and Smith) were like the franchise quaterbacks that were drafted and then the head coach and GM got fired and they wanted us to run a different offense."
Listen to the full interview above.
Hill joined The Atlantic as a staff writer in October of last year, covering sports, race, politics, and pop culture. Hill's new podcast entitled Jemele Hill is Unbothered can be found on Spotify.
