Posted on 09/14/2017 7:27:12 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
ESPN anchor Jemele Hill released a statement late Wednesday about her tweets that President Donald Trump is a "white supremacist," saying her remarks expressed her own views but regretting she put the network in an "unfair light."
"My comments on Twitter expressed my personal beliefs," the SportsCenter host wrote in a screen-shotted statement she tweeted. "My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light. My respect for the company and my colleagues remains unconditional."
ESPN released a statement through CNN's Brian Stelter that Hill had a right to express her political opinions but not in a way that suggested it represented the network. ESPN has dealt with perceptions of a liberal bias in its coverage.
"Jemele has a right to her personal opinions, but not to publicly share them on a platform that implies that she was in any way speaking on behalf of ESPN," she said. "She has acknowledged that her tweets crossed that line and has apologized for doing so. We accept her apology."
Hill fired off a series of tweets Monday night about Trump and his team, calling him a white supremacist and the most "ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime." ESPN's public relations Twitter account released a statement Tuesday that her tweets were "inappropriate."
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned Hill from the podium Tuesday, calling it a "fireable offense."
Other ESPN employees have publicly expressed support for Hill in the wake of the controversy, as has NFL quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick ✔ @Kaepernick7 We are with you @jemelehill ✊🏾 10:32 PM - Sep 12, 2017
Michael Wilbon ✔ @RealMikeWilbon Happy to stand w my friend and colleague Jemele Hill any time and anywhere...especially now...
Jalen Rose ✔ @JalenRose #StandWithJemele https://twitter.com/MarcJSpearsESPN/status/908121739418374145 … 8:19 PM - Sep 13, 2017
Jorge Sedano ✔ @SedanoESPN We are. @Locs_n_Laughs wrote a great piece and it's on his timeline. #StandWithJemele https://twitter.com/thechrisarmas/status/907958484972343296 … 9:29 AM - Sep 13, 2017
It was the latest public relations headache for ESPN, coming on the heels of an embarrassing episode where it yanked Asian-American broadcaster Robert Lee from covering a Virginia football game in the wake of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va.
The reasoning: His name was too similar to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and ESPN feared he would become an online punchline.
She’ll be forgiven. They always are
She has a right to express liberal opinions. Curt Schilling, Mike Ditka, and Rush Limbaugh don’t.
If you have an ESPN app on your phone or computer, delete it now.
The network? The network? She’s even dumber than previously reported. Then again, espn hasn’t been seen in years at our place.
This leftist wench had a right to her opinion says ESPN but Rush Limbaugh or Hank Williams Jr do not. I see where ESPN is coming from and its not a good place.
First rule of life: When you are in a hole, stop digging.
Extremely Socialist Propaganda Network (ESPN) should learn that.
Remarks made by Jimmy the Greek, Rush Limbaugh, Kurt Schilling, Mike Ditka, etc., represented their personal views also...
She’s just a “placeholder”; no real expectations of her, but when blacktivists and lawyers show up you trot out the placeholders and they go away.
Token dupe...
Well ESPN, YOU except her apology is not really the point is it?
Of course they’re her own views. That’s what got Ditka, and Curt Schilling and others fired. She expresses no remorse or apology.
WHY?
Because she's BLACK.
It's called "BLACK PRIVILEGE."
Never watch ESPN again!
The ESPN boards are getting hammered by people demanding this woman be fired! You wouldn’t of seen this years ago on ESPN’s boards, but people have had it with the suffocating liberalism the network espouses daily. People are waking up folks!
This is more of an “I’m sorry I got caught”
than an actual apology for the offensive remarks.
By not firing her they are basically condoning what she said.
A white person would have already been let go and ESPN would by spewing a bunch of anti-white gobbelty gook about it and the white person would be on their knees asking forgiveness.
But Curt Schelling didn't? We have a double standard.
Wonder how someone would have been treated if they called black racist Barrack Obama a black racist?
IOWs “I deeply sorry for the embarrassment this caused the network.”
“My respect for the company and my colleagues remains unconditional.”
High Melanin Content + Vagina = Lifetime Job Security
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.