ESPN suspends Jemele Hill after her tweets about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
ESPN host Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for violating the company’s social media policy twice, the network announced on Twitter Monday.
ESPN's Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/JkVoBVz7lv
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 9, 2017
The SportsCenter host posted several tweets about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threatening to bench players for “disrespecting the flag” during the national anthem.
If fans really are that upset about what JJ & Stephen Ross have done, don't call the players sellouts, but you're watching every Sunday.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
On Sunday, Hill tweeted that Jones “has created a problem for his players, specifically the black ones.”
Hill said that fans who disagree with Jones should target the team’s advertisers and not buy the team’s merchandise.
She clarified Monday she was not calling for an NFL boycott.
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
Hill "previously acknowledged letting her colleagues and company down with an impulsive tweet," ESPN said in a statement posted to Twitter. “In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences. Hence this decision."
ESPN did not specify which tweets Hill was suspended for.
Hill was criticized by some last month for calling President Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter.
The Associated Press contributed.
This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 4:28 PM with the headline "ESPN suspends Jemele Hill after her tweets about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones."