Cortney touched upon the recent controversy surrounding ESPN and anchor Jemele Hill, who went on a Twitter tirade, calling President Trump a white supremacist. The sports network released a statement saying, “the comments from Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the President do not represent the position of ESPN. We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.” As Cortney noted, this remark about Trump came after the anchor entered a debate about a possible Kid Rock senate candidacy in Michigan. Yet, things got worse when longtime anchor Linda Cohn was reportedly suspended for saying that her employer might be losing market share due to the network taking a decidedly left wing stance on politics and inserting that into their coverage, which has turned off their audience.
Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017
Clay Travis of Outkick the Coverage and Fox Sports 1 tweeted last night that Cohn had been suspended for her remarks about saying the network dabbled too much in the political arena.
Back in April, when Cohn was asked whether the network’s 10 million-subscriber loss over the past five years was due to the political shenanigans, she said, “that is definitely a percentage of it.” Now, she’s been given a suspension. Travis likes Jemele and thinks she’s talented, but noted that accusing someone of racism needs to be 100% true. That’s not the case with Trump. He also said that others on the network have been fired for doing much less, naming Curt Schilling and Doug Adler respectively and the G-rated incidents that led to their departure.
Travis also isn’t against politics in sports, “but when only left wingers are allowed to politicize sports it's a broken marketplace of ideas.” It’s another prime example of a double standard. In the meantime, the network allows its staff to say Trump is a white supremacist, but management goes insane if you criticize the network and toss in some criticism that isn’t unwarranted. Sounds like a helluva place to work right now.
Remember @espn fired @gehrig38 for mocking North Carolina's transgender bathroom bill on Facebook. But insult the president all you want!
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 12, 2017
Remember @espn also fired @dougadlertennis for using phrase "guerrilla effect" during a Venus Williams match.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 12, 2017
Sources: After Linda Cohn spoke out on politics @ESPN she was told by prez John Skipper not to come to work & to think about what she said.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 13, 2017
When reached by @outkick and asked about the suspension Linda Cohn declined all comment.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 13, 2017
Lots of employees inside @espn are furious over company's double standard with Cohn & Hill's treatment & reached out to me with story.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 13, 2017
I have no problem with politics in sports. But when only left wingers are allowed to politicize sports it's a broken marketplace of ideas.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 12, 2017
To me, calling someone a white supremacist is like calling them a pedophile. You better be 100% right with that accusation.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 12, 2017
There is no way a conservative @espn could -- or should -- have said these things about Obama. pic.twitter.com/ZhInBs1D1L
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 12, 2017