Jemele Hill denied that she was demoted after ESPN announced she was leaving her SportsCenter host gig to become a writer for the Undefeated.
Hill addressed the rumors in a statement posted on Twitter, stressing that it was her decision to leave the show.
“While I am amused by the rumors that I was demoted, kicked off the 6pm SportsCenter or whatever else can be conjured, the truth is pretty simple and not nearly as dramatic,” Hill said.
Hill, who will also provide on-air commentary for several ESPN programs, will be a chief correspondent and senior columnist for the Undefeated, ESPN’s platform devoted to race, culture and sport, according to the network. Hill’s SC6 with Michael and Jemele cohost Michael Smith will stay in his current role.
“I started at ESPN 11 years ago as a columnist and while I have worn many hats in the time since, my true love always has been writing, reporting and commentary,” Jemele Hill said in the statement. “While I have grown in every way imaginable this last year on the 6 p.m. SportsCenter, deep down I knew it wasn’t my calling.”
Hill leaving ESPN comes a few months after she was suspended for her tweets about NFL protests, a decision that sparked outrage among many in the media and on Twitter.
A month before that, Hill called President Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter, which the White House deemed a “fireable offense.”
Jemele Hill’s last SportsCenter broadcast will be Friday, Feb. 2.
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