Jemele Hill to part ways with ESPN, formed production company, reports say

Credit: Rich Fury

Credit: Rich Fury

Former ESPN SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill will reportedly leave the network by Sept. 1.

Journalist James Miller reported Saturday on Twitter that Hill and the sports network came to an amicable buyout of her multimillion-dollar contract. Hill has been with ESPN since 2006.

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Hill has not confirmed the move, but tweeted, "Live look at my mentions" with a gif of a dumpster fire.

ESPN suspended Hill in October over her tweets in which she said those upset with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' views on player protests should take issue with advertisers, not players.

“Change happens when advertisers are impacted. If you feel strongly about JJ’s statement, boycott his advertisers,” she tweeted Oct. 8.

Hill returned after a two-week suspension.

Hill left her anchor chair on SportsCenter in February and remained at the sports giant writing for "The Undefeated," the network's vertical dedicated to race, culture and sports. Before SportsCenter, she and Michael Smith hosted the ESPN2 show "His and Hers." In 2017, they brought their own style from that show to SportsCenter.

According to Detroit Free Press, The Athletic media reporter Richard Deitsch said Hill and her longtime friend, journalist Kelley L. Carter, who also writes for The Undefeated, are moving into production with their company Lodge Freeway Media.

Variety reported that Hill expressed an interest in production in a Detroit Metro Times interview published Aug. 1.

“I know that whenever I kick off the next iteration of my career, it will involve me getting more deeply involved in producing original content,” she said. There are avenues opening up for women of color to provide different perspectives that’s something we really wanted to take a hard look at.”

When reached for comment on the reports, Hill deferred to her manager, Evan Dick, who could not be reached for immediate comment, according to Variety.

ESPN did not make executives available for comment.

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