ESPN has suspended Jemele Hill after she called for people to boycott the NFL's advertisers following a statement from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jones said that if a player does not fully respect the flag, they will not play in the game.
Hill said that people who "feel strongly" about Jones' statement should boycott the companies that advertise with the team. She retweeted a list of advertisers in her quote tweet.
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
If you strongly reject what Jerry Jones said, the key is his advertisers. Don't place the burden squarely on the players. https://t.co/Gc48kchkuv
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
She later followed up those tweets by saying she was in fact not calling for a boycott, but rather wanted to shift the burden on players whose teams have spoken out against anthem protests.
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
Regardless, ESPN still announced that Hill would be suspended for two weeks for a second violation of the company's social media policy. ESPN said that following her first offense (where she called President Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter about a month ago), employees "were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN" and that there would be consequences.
The full statement:
ESPN's Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/JkVoBVz7lv
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 9, 2017
Hill has been outspoken about anthem protests and supporting players who speak out.