ESPN NBA Countdown host Rachel Nichols caught being white & racist.......
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They were all aware of this audio being recorded and passed around ESPN last year but attempted to keep it in house.
The story also leaked and was reported last year but at that time the audio hadn't.
Now that the recent article had more details and the actual audio they could no longer cover it up and protect her.
OK that's what I thought it was on an ESPN server per Jemele
But he said that ESPN DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT...
what exactly did they do?
Okay... I don't disagree with Rachel Nichols. Let's be real, you'd be upset too if your employer starts giving your assignments to someone else. Kind of signifies that they're trying to get rid of you and you'll fight for your job. Everything she said are things i'd say in private. Shit i'd even call her a cracker ass crack and a fat bitch. Like, they keep giving this fat cracker ass cracker my assignment because they want to look good.
The problem is that it leaked LOL! Let's be real, Maria Taylor is not great at her job neither is Rachel Nichols but Rachel has more clout and longevity. Maria is new to this. I'd even go as far as saying that Rachel has more personal relationships in the NBA circle than Maria. Hell, at some point, i thought some NBA players were smashing her until i realized she was fat. They need to throw Elle Duncan in there to lighten things up
The problem is that it leaked LOL! Let's be real, Maria Taylor is not great at her job neither is Rachel Nichols but Rachel has more clout and longevity. Maria is new to this. I'd even go as far as saying that Rachel has more personal relationships in the NBA circle than Maria. Hell, at some point, i thought some NBA players were smashing her until i realized she was fat. They need to throw Elle Duncan in there to lighten things up
Also, lets not forget that ESPN was also making their female reporters and anchors wear really revealing and low cut dresses about 2 years ago **COUGH** **COUGH** Jaymee Sire. Its messed up what they did to Jaymee. Used her to boost ratings then got rid of her LMAO. I used to wake up every morning to watch that show of hers. I totally forgot who else was on it too.
Rachael reached out to apologize to Maria but Maria didn’t respond and to my knowledge hasn’t interacted with Rachel.
The person who passed the video\recording to Maria was suspended, which was bullshit.
Maria didn’t want to work with Rachel for obvious reasons so there was no on or off air correspondence. There were also no live interactions on the show. The excerpts were prerecorded and patched in to look live.
ESPN handled it, it just wasn’t supposed to leak and now that it did ESPN has to clean it up again.
It was a hot mic that picked it up. The chic works in editing, in their film room, something like that... she came across the footage and sent it to her bosses and promptly received a 2 week suspension WITHOUT PAY
So ESPN definition of handling is suspending the person who recorded the offensive racist misogynistic comments
But not the actual person who made the comments
And then apparently leaking that Maria was being greedy and unrealistic with her contract negotiations.
Then having 2 black men be coons sell outs on national tv to again protect the person who actually made the comments.
That's handling it?
I didn't leave anything out?
OK.
I just needed to clear that up.
The person suspended was suspended for sharing the information with Maria, which I said was bullshit.
I also didn’t state that that handled everything correctly, I stated the issue was handled a year ago.
The Black men speaking up for Rachel and leaked contract negotiations isn’t what I was speaking on.
I’m specifically speaking on the recorded conversation and how it was handled by ESPN a year ago.
Bro I hope you don't think this is in anyway some kinda attack on you.
I am saying they ain't handled sh*t.
I definitely don’t think you’re attacking me. I’m just saying ESPN handled it a year ago. It was a done deal. Maria isn’t and doesn’t have to work with Rachel, Maria’s co-host stuck up for her in private and in public.
It was over with, until the leak.
My point is if it was handled properly hell handled at all?
the leak wouldn't have happened and the resolution BEFORE the leak would have mitigated all this.
they THINK they handled it
but they actually did LESS than the bare minimum and that's winy the sh*t hit the fan.
the reason I say this cause this is NOT the first time ESPN had stuff like this in house get leaked.
They usually a little bit better than this
to "handle" this so poorly after the summer we JUST had?
They did nothing
In MY opinion.
What would you like to have been done?
Rachel shitted on ESPN talking stating how they handled diversity issues in the past and didn’t want them using Maria as a “Good Look” by giving her the Finals position due to everything that was going on last summer.
Keep in mind ESPN is a workplace, what do you think ESPN should’ve done?
It's not about what I want
Espn Disney HR has guidelines in place
Right?
Just adhere to them
Be transparent
This is NOT the first time they had situations like this between employees
Just be transparent.
And the more I hear that tape? Rachel was on some tap dance just in CASE this maybe recorded speak, heard it before. But that's just me.
Back to the main, I don't want anything
But consistency and transparency.
ESPN acts as if they're too big to respond to anything
They make the on air talent admit and apologize for their mistakes...what about theirs as a company?
Even Adam Silver commented about it today complaining about them saying they had a year. They look inept as a company.
For a company that hates bad press...they sure do seem to get a lot. Much of it by their own doing.
Amin Elhassan Calls Out Woj for Putting His Foot On Black Careers at ESPN
Amin Elhassan and Jemele Hill joined The Dan le Batard Show with Stugotz on Tuesday. The three former ESPN personalities (along with the other inhabitants of th
www.thebiglead.com
Amin Elhassan Calls Out Woj for Putting His Foot On Black Careers at ESPN
By Stephen Douglas
Jul 6, 2021, 2:26 PM EDT
Amin Elhassan and Jemele Hill joined The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Tuesday. The three former ESPN personalities (along with the other inhabitants of the pirate ship) discussed the Rachel Nichols story that has dominated the sports media conversation for the past few days. Elhassan specifically shared some very strong opinions on the goings-ons at ESPN.
Elhassan took a very pointed shot at Adrian Wojnarowski because of the quote attributed to Woj in the New York Times story where he called Nichols a "bad teammate."
Here is the clip, which starts at the 41:02 mark.
“Are you [beeping] sh-tting me? This guy is going to call someone a bad teammate? For real? For real? Do we want to talk about the black careers that he put a foot on because he was threatened by? Do we want to talk about that? Do you wanna talk about the newsbreakers - with an ’S’ - of diverse background, who have rapports with players that Adrian doesn’t have. That he saw as threatening because his sources are all front office people… and assistant coaches trying to move up… and maybe a video coordinator that’s trying to get a better job somewhere else.
https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/chris-paul-suns-nba-finals-clippers-01f9c3bspefv
"But he can’t talk to LeBron. And he can’t talk to Chris Paul or Damian Lillard or some of these other guys. He doesn’t have that rapport with them. So what he does is he steps on them. And beyond that particular angle, he steps on a lot of people over there. He steps on a lot of people over there. Right? When you see a byline that says 'as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and fill-in-the-blank.' That’s the old, 'yeah, put my name on it and put it out there.'"
The show also discussed Nichols' privacy concerns, which Le Batard pointed out, have been completely ignored since the "gotcha" moment hit the NYT. During that part of the discussion Elhassan also questioned whose fault it was that Nichols was in the position to be recorded. Here's his response to Hill asking if he was asserting something nefarious took place with what the NYT article termed "new technology."
“You’re god damn right I am."
"Bullsh-t. Bullsh-t. Rachel knows how to use it. It’s the TVU app. We’ve all used it before the pandemic on remotes. They give you a little iPhone. Now it’s an iPad, but they used to give you and iPhone and a tripod and you hook it up and you use it."
The entire interview was heavy on nuance and worth a listen to get the full picture on a story involving several complex issues.
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I agree
Again, ESPN is a workplace and an employee was recorded and the recording was shared with employees. And a year later shared with the public. It’s an issue that’s handled by ESPN\Disney’s HR department. It looks like they need some assistance from the PR department though.
Rachel apologized because her name’s looking bad in the public eye and she’s trying to save her name and career. ESPN also made her apologize for bringing negativity to the network.
Employees argue, fight and at many times don’t like each other. They had an internal issue that was leaked to the public and handled internally.
When I asked you what do you want, I’m asking you what would you like to have been done?
Should they have suspended Rachel because she said that ESPN has a history of diversity issues and that she felt ESPN gave Maria the Finals job because of the heightened racial issues at the time?
And Rachel felt that ESPN was using Maria to make ESPN look progressive in the eyes of the nation, especially at that time and she didn’t like it because it meant her missing out on a job that she wanted.
I ask you what would you like done because I’m unsure what punishment would fit?
Nicholas needs to be out of ESPN but ESPN made the situation worse by sitting on this for a year and not doing anything about it.
ESPN Waits a Year to Clean Up Rachel Nichols—Maria Taylor Mess, Makes Mess Messier
ESPN looks weak taking action against Rachel Nichols now.
www.si.com
ESPN Waits a Year to Clean Up Rachel Nichols–Maria Taylor Mess, Makes Mess Messier: TRAINA THOUGHTS
JIMMY TRAINA11 HOURS AGO
1. There are so many layers and a lot of nuance to the Rachel Nichols–Maria Taylor controversy. One thing that’s been pretty clear, though, is that ESPN has bungled this entire situation.
I was struck by the wording of this tweet from TMZ Sports on Tuesday night.
That tweet really isn’t accurate.
The accurate tweet would read, “Rachel Nichols Booted From NBA Finals Sideline Gig After Maria Taylor Comments Even Though ESPN Let Her Work the NBA Finals Last Season, But Now ESPN Is Booting Her Because Someone Leaked the Comments to the New York Times.”
ESPN knew about Nichols's comments last year and she worked the NBA Finals. So ESPN didn’t pull her from this year’s Finals because of the comments she made in a private call that was recorded by mistake and distributed on purpose. She was pulled from the NBA Finals because the comments became public.
In an interesting twist, the comments were also made public just weeks before Taylor’s contract with ESPN is set to expire.
So now ESPN is in full-fledged panic mode. It pulled Nichols from the Finals and then bizarrely didn’t air her show, The Jump, on Tuesday, even though she hosted it Monday.
It was foolish for ESPN to pull the show instead of just using a substitute host. By pulling the show, ESPN punished Nichols’s co-hosts, Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins, and all the people who work on the show behind the scenes.
ESPN should’ve done whatever it needed to do to fix this situation last year.
An argument can be made that this mess is an extension of NBA Countdown being a disaster for years and years and years. ESPN has never been able to produce a top-notch NBA pregame show.
The cast turned over for years. Everyone from Magic Johnson to Bill Simmons to Michelle Beadle has had a crack at making Countdown a show that generated buzz with NBA fans à la NBA on TNT. But it never happened.
After ESPN booted Beadle as host in 2019, the network announced Nichols and Taylor would share hosting duties. I can’t ever remember a studio show for a major sport having multiple hosts.
This was a dumb move then and it’s become a catastrophe now.
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ESPN Waits a Year to Clean Up Rachel Nichols—Maria Taylor Mess, Makes Mess Messier
ESPN looks weak taking action against Rachel Nichols now.
ESPN Waits a Year to Clean Up Rachel Nichols–Maria Taylor Mess, Makes Mess Messier: TRAINA THOUGHTS
JIMMY TRAINA11 HOURS AGO
1. There are so many layers and a lot of nuance to the Rachel Nichols–Maria Taylor controversy. One thing that’s been pretty clear, though, is that ESPN has bungled this entire situation.
I was struck by the wording of this tweet from TMZ Sports on Tuesday night.
That tweet really isn’t accurate.
The accurate tweet would read, “Rachel Nichols Booted From NBA Finals Sideline Gig After Maria Taylor Comments Even Though ESPN Let Her Work the NBA Finals Last Season, But Now ESPN Is Booting Her Because Someone Leaked the Comments to the New York Times.”
ESPN knew about Nichols's comments last year and she worked the NBA Finals. So ESPN didn’t pull her from this year’s Finals because of the comments she made in a private call that was recorded by mistake and distributed on purpose. She was pulled from the NBA Finals because the comments became public.
In an interesting twist, the comments were also made public just weeks before Taylor’s contract with ESPN is set to expire.
So now ESPN is in full-fledged panic mode. It pulled Nichols from the Finals and then bizarrely didn’t air her show, The Jump, on Tuesday, even though she hosted it Monday.
It was foolish for ESPN to pull the show instead of just using a substitute host. By pulling the show, ESPN punished Nichols’s co-hosts, Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins, and all the people who work on the show behind the scenes.
ESPN should’ve done whatever it needed to do to fix this situation last year.
An argument can be made that this mess is an extension of NBA Countdown being a disaster for years and years and years. ESPN has never been able to produce a top-notch NBA pregame show.
The cast turned over for years. Everyone from Magic Johnson to Bill Simmons to Michelle Beadle has had a crack at making Countdown a show that generated buzz with NBA fans à la NBA on TNT. But it never happened.
After ESPN booted Beadle as host in 2019, the network announced Nichols and Taylor would share hosting duties. I can’t ever remember a studio show for a major sport having multiple hosts.
This was a dumb move then and it’s become a catastrophe now.
Other than firing Rachel which is what some wanted, the issue was handled last year. Some still didn’t want to work with her so the issues lingered.
The leaking of the tape to the public is what made the issue an real issue. Had the tape not released, Rachel would be on the sideline for the Finals.
Rachel’s not on the sideline isn’t punishment for the tape, she’s not on the sideline because we all know what she said and now she’s a distraction.
From the article:
The only person disciplined over the incident, the Times said, was a digital video producer who told ESPN's human resources department she shared the video with Taylor. The producer, a Black woman, was suspended two weeks without pay and has since left the company.
Nichols explained to the Times she was “unloading to a friend about ESPN’s process, not about Maria.” She said she reached out to Taylor via texts and phone calls, but never received a response.
The tension between the two remained throughout the current NBA season, as Taylor has continued to host the network's "NBA Countdown" pregame show, with all of Nichols' segments prerecorded so they were not forced to interact.
The Times also reports there was a heated discussion among ESPN executives and broadcast personnel on a conference call before the playoffs began in late May. Execs said that if Taylor continued her objection to having Nichols on live, then no reporters would be allowed to. During that call, several people, including "Countdown" co-hosts Jalen Rose and Adrian Wojnarowski, expressed their support for Taylor — to the point where they considered refusing to appear on-air. Ultimately, the network reversed course.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...stars-rachel-nichols-maria-taylor/7858707002/
THIS!
ESPN’s Maria Taylor Obliquely Responds On Twitter To Recent Controversy With Rachel Nichols
UPDATE, 8:45: ESPN anchor Maria Taylor has finally spoken out in the wake of the controversy surrounding remarks made about her by fellow employee Rachel Nichols. Taylor posted to Twitter a message that didn’t address Nichols, but alluded to “dark times” She kept her message upbeat and positive...
deadline.com
ESPN’s Maria Taylor Obliquely Responds On Twitter To Recent Controversy With Rachel Nichols
By Bruce Haring, Tom Tapp
July 7, 2021 9:00pm
103COMMENTS
ESPN's Maria TaylorESPN via YouTube
UPDATE, 8:45: ESPN anchor Maria Taylor has finally spoken out in the wake of the controversy surrounding remarks made about her by fellow employee Rachel Nichols.
Taylor posted to Twitter a message that didn’t address Nichols, but alluded to “dark times” She kept her message upbeat and positive and accompanied it with happy photos from her job.
“During the dark times I always remember that I am in this position to open doors and light the path that others walk down. I’ve taken some punches but that just means I’m still in the fight. Remember to lift as you climb and always KEEP RISING.”
Nichols has publicly apologized to Taylor for her remarks, which were captured on video without her knowledge.
UPDATED, 10:30 a.m: After three days of turmoil, ESPN announced Tuesday that Maria Taylor will be hosting the network’s pregame and halftime shows for the NBA Finals. Those duties have been at the center of a controversy involving comments made by Rachel Nichols, host of ESPN’s The Jump, about Taylor potentially assuming that role.
https://deadline.com/2021/06/sports-emmys-2021-list-1234771825/
ESPN also said that Nichols no longer will be the network’s sideline reporter for the Finals, a position she held last year and during big games this season. That role will go to the network’s NBA reporter, Malika Andrews.
Nichols, who is white, was heard on a video expressing exasperation over Taylor, who is Black, being given NBA Finals hosting duties last year. The private comments were captured by a live internal feed and became the basis for a New York Times story this weekend.
The Jump host apologized Monday, and multiple former players-turned-analysts spoke up on her behalf, but ESPN went with Taylor for the second straight year as the face of its Finals programming. Taylor will host alongside analysts Jalen Rose and Jay Williams and ace NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski.
The network’s release makes brief mention of Nichols, saying she will be “on site throughout NBA Finals for weekday shows” of The Jump.
Taylor’s ascension might put pressure on the network in another way, however. If the series goes to a seventh game, the Times reports, Taylor’s contract with ESPN “expires near the end of the finals, and to date the two sides are not close on a renewal.”
The NBA Finals start tonight with the Milwaukee Bucks facing the Phoenix Suns at 9 p.m. ET.
PREVIOUSLY, July 5: One day after confidential comments made by ESPN host Rachel Nichols about network colleague Maria Taylor were the focus of a New York Times report, causing an uproar, Nichols issued an apology at the top of her popular NBA show, The Jump, on Monday. (Nichols told the Times that she reached out to Taylor via call and text, but did not receive a response.)
In place of her usually NBA-centric monologue on Monday, Nichols said:
The first thing they teach you in journalism school is don’t be the story, and I don’t plan to break that rule today or distract from a fantastic Finals. But I also don’t want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect, how much I value our colleagues here at ESPN, how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be part of this outstanding team.
Nichols then threw to former players Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson, who are regular guests on the show.
Perkins thanked Nichols for “taking responsibility for your actions,” before giving her an endorsement of sorts with, “I know your heart, great person, great individual.” The former NBA champ then also praised Taylor before ending with, “My only hope is that we have a commitment overall to support each other through this process and continue to support each other through our journey.”
Jefferson, also a former NBA champion, said he fully supported Taylor and that, even after knowing Nichols for 20 years. “Rachel and our entire group here have had some very difficult conversations over this time period, and those conversations don’t end here. We will continue to have uncomfortable conversations. No one is excused,” continued Jefferson. This doesn’t just go away. But we have to learn and understand and become better for each other, and really through our actions more than anything, and that is our responsibility.”
Earlier in the day, another sometimes guest on The Jump, former NBA player Stephen Jackson, posted a series of videos to Instagram defending Nichols.
“We all ramble,” said Jackson in the video. “We say things when we are frustrated. And you know, Rachel [Nichols] did deserve that job. It’s just plain and simple. I talked to Rachel and I know a lot of things she was saying out of frustration because ESPN put her in a bad position. And they even put Maria [Taylor] in a position trying to give her a sympathy job.”
Social media reaction to Jackson’s post sent his name trending on Twitter shortly thereafter.
PREVIOUSLY on July 4: Disparaging comments made by ESPN host Rachel Nichols and leaked from a recorded phone conversation are reportedly causing an uproar at the sports network.
The New York Times is reporting details of a leaked Nichols conversation with Adam Mendelsohn, an adviser to LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul. In the talk, Mendelsohn warned Nichols that ESPN is a “snake pit,” and she should be careful.
In the New York Times story, an audio clip taken from a video has Nichols, who is white, exasperated over Maria Taylor, who is Black, being given NBA Finals hosting duties last year. Nichols is the host of the daily NBA show The Jump, while Taylor is an analyst and host in multiple sports.
“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said. “If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.”
“I just want them to go somewhere else — it’s in my contract, by the way; this job is in my contract in writing,” she said.
The Times reported that several ESPN employees who are Black believe the conversation indicates that things said in private reflect a non-supportive attitude toward them that’s never publicly stated.
“Those same people — who are, like, generally white conservative male Trump voters — is part of the reason I’ve had a hard time at ESPN,” Nichols said on tape. “I basically finally just outworked everyone for so long that they had to recognize it. I don’t want to then be a victim of them trying to play catch-up for the same damage that affected me in the first place, you know what I mean. So I’m trying to just be nice.”
ESPN declined to comment to the Times, and Taylor has not responded.
Nichols said in the story she was expressing herself to a friend about her frustration, not with Taylor, but ESPN.
“My own intentions in that conversation, and the opinion of those in charge at ESPN, are not the sum of what matters here — if Maria felt the conversation was upsetting, then it was, and I was the cause of that for her,” she said.
Taylor is currently negotiating for a new contract, and reportedly wants to be among the highest-paid personalities at the network. Her current deal expires July 20.
NO NO NO...
Man we gotta stop looking for more black peeps to damage.
Nichols has black friends and colleagues at ESPN. They gonna speak out for her. It is what it is.
Its like ya'll dont realize that RJ and Perk are regulars on that show because Nichols wants them there. There's a loyalty there that cant just be overlooked.
RJ and Perk aint say what Nichols said, she said it so she should catch the heat. Not anyone else.
I understand what you saying. I am all for LOYALTY
loyalty comes with a price, period
aint nothing gonna absolve you of that.
We ALL have paid it .
But this is my thing.
WE don't support EACH other as BLACK PEOPLE like that often enough
especially after the past year a lot things aint gonna sit right.
I gave you an example where Jay Will made a POINT to publicly distance himself when McNutt defended Maria
You can support Rachel but to IMMEDIATELY just JUMP IN FRONT of the TRAIN?
Has Rachel done that for any of her black colleges in times of trouble publicly?
They did not NEED to give some PUBLIC TESTIMONY
just being there on set would have sufficed
And ESPECIALLY Perk?
You HEARD the bullsh*t Perk has said about about Black athletes?
You know what ?
NONE of that matters really.
I didn't like it. It just came off wrong and they got to wear that stain.
that is my personal opinion.
I am NOT one to ever use words like coon easy. I ain't use it here
but that sh*t looked and sounded off and wrong to me.
Controversy involving Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor is latest symptom of a deeply rooted problem
The controversy involving two ESPN journalists, one white and one Black, highlights an issue throughout media, which calls out inequality in other spaces but has yet to fully address it within its own ranks. “This isn’t a Rachel versus Maria story. This is a story about why they didn’t value Maria enough to allow her to take full ownership of the job,” former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill told LA Times deputy sports editor Iliana Limón Romero.
The controversy involving two ESPN journalists, one white and one Black, highlights an issue throughout media, which calls out inequality in other spaces but has yet to fully address it within its own ranks. “This isn’t a Rachel versus Maria story. This is a story about why they didn’t value Maria enough to allow her to take full ownership of the job,” former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill told LA Times deputy sports editor Iliana Limón Romero.
Commentary: “This isn’t about Maria vs. Rachel:” ESPN must address pervasive race problems
ESPN’s Maria Taylor is shown working during a 2019 college football game between Miami and Florida in Orlando, Fla.
(Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)
By ILIANA LIMÓN ROMERODEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR
JULY 6, 2021 4:56 PM PT
Top Black voices keep leaving ESPN for a reason.
The latest symptom of a deeply rooted problem was thrust into the national spotlight when the New York Times reported Sunday that Rachel Nichols, who is white, was caught on camera suggesting ESPN should not have selected Maria Taylor, who is Black, over her to host a prestigious NBA playoffs pregame show.
“If you need to give [Maria] more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it,” Nichols said during a phone conversation, according to a video recording obtained by the New York Times.
The call was captured by an ESPN camera in July 2020 while Nichols was in quarantine in her hotel room in the NBA bubble. Video of the conversation was stored on ESPN servers and soon shared by company employees who were upset by the suggestion Taylor had not earned her role.
Nichols has apologized multiple times for the conversation, most recently on Monday at the start of “The Jump,” the daily NBA show she hosts. On Tuesday, ESPN announced that Malika Andrews would replace Nichols as its sideline reporter to “keep the focus on the NBA Finals.”
Nichols was not previously sanctioned by ESPN for her remarks. Taylor asked that she not be forced to work with Nichols on camera according to the New York Times report. The request was granted, but it was frequently revisited and Taylor was left to defend her position.
It’s a familiar pattern at the network.
“ESPN has a consistent history of undervaluing Black talent,” former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill told the Los Angeles Times in a Monday interview.
“This isn’t a Rachel versus Maria story. This is a story about why they didn’t value Maria enough to allow her to take full ownership of the job.
“ESPN collects Black faces, but it seems like that when those Black faces become Black voices, it’s a problem.”
The combination of ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro’s early attempts to depoliticize content and conversation, economic stress accelerated by a global pandemic and a national reckoning with race created hostile working conditions for journalists of color at ESPN.
Like most corporate executives at the height of Black Lives Matter protests last year, Pitaro vowed to improve workplace culture. He relaxed restrictions on political speech, especially in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake. But those adjustments were not widely embraced, and Taylor faced criticism from some colleagues for her commentary following Floyd’s death.
Pitaro and senior leadership at ESPN have fallen woefully short of living up to his workplace culture pledge.
Five sources at a range of levels at ESPN confirmed the New York Times’ report of intense stress and unhappiness among many Black employees and other journalists of color. It isn’t limited to Taylor, Hill and other on-air talent, with senior producers and support staff behind the cameras equally frustrated.
National Association of Black Journalists president Dorothy Tucker posted on Twitter Sunday that the only person sanctioned for the incident was a Black producer who told human resources she had shared the video with Taylor. The woman was suspended for two weeks without pay and given less desirable tasks. She recently left ESPN.
“I have concerns: The ESPN Black employee was punished for revealing the incident but no action was taken against the White ESPN talent for insulting the Black talent? There will be follow up post holiday,” Tucker wrote.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz told the New York Times: “A diverse group of executives thoroughly and fairly considered all the facts related to the incident and then addressed the situation appropriately.”
Many have focused on the troubling conversation between Nichols and LeBron James adviser Adam Mendelsohn, who himself has apologized for suggesting during the conversation that the Me Too and Black Lives Matters movements had driven him to exhaustion.
But as Hill notes, that conversation is a symptom of a much deeper problem
.
It’s not hard to do the right thing, and yet ESPN leadership has too often failed to support Black female journalists.
Taylor was described to the Los Angeles Times by current and former ESPN employees as a “perfect journalist.” In addition to her talent on camera, she is known internally for working hard, mentoring young journalists of all backgrounds and establishing a foundation to support women and journalists of color.
She deserved clear, unambiguous support in the face of a tired diversity hire smear.
The overwhelming majority of journalists of color have heard a form of this attack relayed either to their faces or behind their backs. You filled their quota. You are the diversity hire. You are only here because of your gender or race.
It can come in the form of jokes and sometimes is leveled casually, as if it isn’t a bomb that can wreck the target’s confidence or push them to take on more work in an effort to prove their worth.
Why did Nichols seek Mendelsohn’s advice? Why didn’t she feel her concerns about her own role would be evaluated fairly? Why wasn’t her language renounced clearly to staff and, at a minimum, training provided to highlight why this was unacceptable regardless of how it came to light?
ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols stands on the court before a 2020 game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
(Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via AP)
Yes, this was an accidentally taped conversation, but it was with a person who has a direct impact on how Taylor does her job. That’s a public smear, regardless of how the conversation was shared within the company.
ESPN proudly touts it has hired more women and journalists of color than any other media company, but it also has the most jobs — the most premium jobs — available. The support for its diverse staff is weak. ESPN has few female executives of color with clout needed to resolve conflict based on their clear understanding of the depth of the problems.
“NBA Countdown” producer Amina Hussein, a 17-year veteran and one of the highest-ranking female executives and journalists of color at ESPN, left in December.
“I’ve only worked with one other African-American female at ESPN and that was Julaine Edwards as part of the SEC Network,” Taylor told Forbes in December 2019. “So, having Amina involved is everything to me.”
Hussein’s departure directly impacted how ESPN’s fractured NBA team responded to the current strife.
This is an issue throughout media, which calls out inequality in other spaces but has yet to fully address it within its own ranks. This includes the Los Angeles Times, which has made strides, but which rightly acknowledges there is still considerable work to be done.
Racial inequality in media is frequently highlighted, but real progress requires an investment in cultivating diverse managers — including women of color — and giving them authority to lead. Until companies invest in these leaders, they will keep getting embarrassed.
Why does this matter?
Failure to invest in truly diverse leadership will erode ability to tell the best stories in a competitive space, speed up the loss of audience and hinder long-term revenue opportunities.
You’re just going to lose in every way possible.
It takes more than hiring journalists of color from other companies, saying diversity’s important and sponsoring journalism conferences.
Do that, but also cultivate and elevate diverse voices on your team. Listen to them, give them chances to lead and give them room to learn from failure.
ESPN never had to be in this position. It needs to listen to the incoming calls from the National Association of Black Journalists. But more important, it needs to start listening to the calls for change coming from within its own offices.
ESPN’s Maria Taylor is shown working during a 2019 college football game between Miami and Florida in Orlando, Fla.
(Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)
By ILIANA LIMÓN ROMERODEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR
JULY 6, 2021 4:56 PM PT
Top Black voices keep leaving ESPN for a reason.
The latest symptom of a deeply rooted problem was thrust into the national spotlight when the New York Times reported Sunday that Rachel Nichols, who is white, was caught on camera suggesting ESPN should not have selected Maria Taylor, who is Black, over her to host a prestigious NBA playoffs pregame show.
“If you need to give [Maria] more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it,” Nichols said during a phone conversation, according to a video recording obtained by the New York Times.
The call was captured by an ESPN camera in July 2020 while Nichols was in quarantine in her hotel room in the NBA bubble. Video of the conversation was stored on ESPN servers and soon shared by company employees who were upset by the suggestion Taylor had not earned her role.
Nichols has apologized multiple times for the conversation, most recently on Monday at the start of “The Jump,” the daily NBA show she hosts. On Tuesday, ESPN announced that Malika Andrews would replace Nichols as its sideline reporter to “keep the focus on the NBA Finals.”
Nichols was not previously sanctioned by ESPN for her remarks. Taylor asked that she not be forced to work with Nichols on camera according to the New York Times report. The request was granted, but it was frequently revisited and Taylor was left to defend her position.
It’s a familiar pattern at the network.
“ESPN has a consistent history of undervaluing Black talent,” former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill told the Los Angeles Times in a Monday interview.
“This isn’t a Rachel versus Maria story. This is a story about why they didn’t value Maria enough to allow her to take full ownership of the job.
“ESPN collects Black faces, but it seems like that when those Black faces become Black voices, it’s a problem.”
The combination of ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro’s early attempts to depoliticize content and conversation, economic stress accelerated by a global pandemic and a national reckoning with race created hostile working conditions for journalists of color at ESPN.
Like most corporate executives at the height of Black Lives Matter protests last year, Pitaro vowed to improve workplace culture. He relaxed restrictions on political speech, especially in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake. But those adjustments were not widely embraced, and Taylor faced criticism from some colleagues for her commentary following Floyd’s death.
Pitaro and senior leadership at ESPN have fallen woefully short of living up to his workplace culture pledge.
Five sources at a range of levels at ESPN confirmed the New York Times’ report of intense stress and unhappiness among many Black employees and other journalists of color. It isn’t limited to Taylor, Hill and other on-air talent, with senior producers and support staff behind the cameras equally frustrated.
JEMELE HILL
National Association of Black Journalists president Dorothy Tucker posted on Twitter Sunday that the only person sanctioned for the incident was a Black producer who told human resources she had shared the video with Taylor. The woman was suspended for two weeks without pay and given less desirable tasks. She recently left ESPN.
“I have concerns: The ESPN Black employee was punished for revealing the incident but no action was taken against the White ESPN talent for insulting the Black talent? There will be follow up post holiday,” Tucker wrote.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz told the New York Times: “A diverse group of executives thoroughly and fairly considered all the facts related to the incident and then addressed the situation appropriately.”
Many have focused on the troubling conversation between Nichols and LeBron James adviser Adam Mendelsohn, who himself has apologized for suggesting during the conversation that the Me Too and Black Lives Matters movements had driven him to exhaustion.
But as Hill notes, that conversation is a symptom of a much deeper problem
.
It’s not hard to do the right thing, and yet ESPN leadership has too often failed to support Black female journalists.
Taylor was described to the Los Angeles Times by current and former ESPN employees as a “perfect journalist.” In addition to her talent on camera, she is known internally for working hard, mentoring young journalists of all backgrounds and establishing a foundation to support women and journalists of color.
She deserved clear, unambiguous support in the face of a tired diversity hire smear.
The overwhelming majority of journalists of color have heard a form of this attack relayed either to their faces or behind their backs. You filled their quota. You are the diversity hire. You are only here because of your gender or race.
It can come in the form of jokes and sometimes is leveled casually, as if it isn’t a bomb that can wreck the target’s confidence or push them to take on more work in an effort to prove their worth.
Why did Nichols seek Mendelsohn’s advice? Why didn’t she feel her concerns about her own role would be evaluated fairly? Why wasn’t her language renounced clearly to staff and, at a minimum, training provided to highlight why this was unacceptable regardless of how it came to light?
ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols stands on the court before a 2020 game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
(Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via AP)
Yes, this was an accidentally taped conversation, but it was with a person who has a direct impact on how Taylor does her job. That’s a public smear, regardless of how the conversation was shared within the company.
ESPN proudly touts it has hired more women and journalists of color than any other media company, but it also has the most jobs — the most premium jobs — available. The support for its diverse staff is weak. ESPN has few female executives of color with clout needed to resolve conflict based on their clear understanding of the depth of the problems.
“NBA Countdown” producer Amina Hussein, a 17-year veteran and one of the highest-ranking female executives and journalists of color at ESPN, left in December.
“I’ve only worked with one other African-American female at ESPN and that was Julaine Edwards as part of the SEC Network,” Taylor told Forbes in December 2019. “So, having Amina involved is everything to me.”
Hussein’s departure directly impacted how ESPN’s fractured NBA team responded to the current strife.
This is an issue throughout media, which calls out inequality in other spaces but has yet to fully address it within its own ranks. This includes the Los Angeles Times, which has made strides, but which rightly acknowledges there is still considerable work to be done.
Racial inequality in media is frequently highlighted, but real progress requires an investment in cultivating diverse managers — including women of color — and giving them authority to lead. Until companies invest in these leaders, they will keep getting embarrassed.
Why does this matter?
Failure to invest in truly diverse leadership will erode ability to tell the best stories in a competitive space, speed up the loss of audience and hinder long-term revenue opportunities.
You’re just going to lose in every way possible.
How do you fix this?
It takes more than hiring journalists of color from other companies, saying diversity’s important and sponsoring journalism conferences.
Do that, but also cultivate and elevate diverse voices on your team. Listen to them, give them chances to lead and give them room to learn from failure.
ESPN never had to be in this position. It needs to listen to the incoming calls from the National Association of Black Journalists. But more important, it needs to start listening to the calls for change coming from within its own offices.
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