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Over the weekend former SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill “amicably” parted ways with ESPN after reaching a buyout with the organization according to a report from James Miller.
Coming 9/1 an amicable departure / buyout for @jemelehill from @espn Been a long time coming #JemeleHill #ESPN
— james andrew miller (@JimMiller) August 26, 2018
.@jemelehill departure comes after meeting she requested w/ @espn prez Pitaro #JemeleHill
— james andrew miller (@JimMiller) August 26, 2018
According to Bossip.com Hill was able to secure a $6 million buyout to leave the company.
Via Bossip
BOSSIP can exclusively confirm that Hill will receive just shy of $6 million from ESPN to fulfill the multi-year deal she signed in 2016.
Apparently Hill will be concentrating on work for her production company.
Jemele and her long-time friend and now business partner, Kelley L. Carter, recently launched their production company, Lodge Freeway Media, and will be concentrating on future endeavors that speak in their honest and socially-conscious voice.
As first reported by @JimMiller, @jemelehill is leaving ESPN. She approached management. Hill and @KelleyLCarter have a production company — Lodge Freeway Media — so that will be part of her post-ESPN world. She leaves ESPN in September after wrapping up some stuff.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 26, 2018
Earlier this month Hill spoke about her interest in producing orginal content in an interview with Detroit Metro Times
“I know that whenever I kick off the next iteration of my career, it will involve me getting more deeply involved in producing original content,” she said. There are avenues opening up for women of color to provide different perspectives that’s something we really wanted to take a hard look at.”
Hill, who was suspended last year for calling President Trump a white supremacist, clearly didn’t fit in with ESPN’s new directive to completely stay away from politics.
For what it's worth, here's the part of Jimmy Pitaro's comments on ESPN and "politics" that didn't get a lot of play over the weekend. Basically, Pitaro said ESPN will cover the intersection of sports and social issues as it always has. pic.twitter.com/id0eVYxCK7
— Alex Putterman (@AlexPutterman) August 22, 2018