Read ESPN Chief John Skipper's Note to His Employees on Jemele Hill Controversy
ESPN President John Skipper released a statement to employees, reminding them that the company "is about sports" and to always do what's best for the business.
The network has been the subject of controversy this week after anchor Jemele Hill released a series of Tweets criticizing President Donald Trump, calling him a white supremacist and suggesting he is unfit for office.
ESPN disavowed Hill's comments but did not appear to punish her seriously. That drew the ire of many, who pointed to Curt Schilling's firing for similarly outspoken political views as evidence that the network has a liberal bias.
White House Press Secreatary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for ESPN to apologize and said the statements are a "firable offense." Trump himself responded to the controversy on Twitter.
Read Skipper's statement in full:
I want to remind everyone about fundamental principles at ESPN.
ESPN is about sports. Last year, we broadcast over 16,000 sports events. We show highlights and report scores and tell stories and break down plays.
And we talk about sports all day every day. Of course, sports is intertwined with society and culture, so “sticking to sports” is not so simple. When athletes engage on issues or when protests happen in games, we cover, report and comment on that. We are, among other things, the largest, most accomplished and highly resourced sports news organization. We take great pride in our news organization.
We have programs on which we discuss and even debate sports, as well as the issues that intersect with sports. Fans themselves love to debate and discuss sports.
ESPN is not a political organization. Where sports and politics intersect, no one is told what view they must express.
At the same time, ESPN has values. We are committed to inclusion and an environment of tolerance where everyone in a diverse work force has the equal opportunity to succeed. We consider this human, not political. Consequently, we insist that no one be denigrated for who they are including their gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual identity.
We have issues of significant debate in our country at this time. Our employees are citizens and appropriately want to participate in the public discussion. That can create a conflict for our public facing talent between their work and their personal points of view. Given this reality, we have social media policies which require people to understand that social platforms are public and their comments on them will reflect on ESPN. At a minimum, comments should not be inflammatory or personal.
We had a violation of those standards in recent days and our handling of this is a private matter. As always, in each circumstance we look to do what is best for our business.
In light of recent events, we need to remind ourselves that we are a journalistic organization and that we should not do anything that undermines that position.
We also know that ESPN is a special place and that our success is based on you and your colleagues’ work. Let’s not let the public narrative re-write who we are or what we stand for. Let’s not be divided in that pursuit. I will need your support if we are to succeed.
Hill herself apologized for her comments, saying "My comments on Twitter expressed my personal beliefs. 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 said it accepted her apology.
