Controversial sports media figure Jemele Hill on Thursday became CNN’s latest hire for the network’s new streaming service.
CNN announced that Hill, the outspoken former ESPN host who called President Donald Trump a “White supremacist,” and fellow ex-ESPN host Cari Champion will lead a show called “Cari & Jemele: Speak.Easy.” on CNN+.
The show will be the two hosts’ opinions on the “biggest stories in sports, entertainment, politics and culture,” according to the network. In 2020, Hill and Champion started a similar show on Vice TV called “Cari and Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports.”
“The CNN family is a perfect partner for us because they understand our chemistry and appreciate that our boldness is our strength,” Hill said in CNN’s press release.
Champion worked at ESPN for eight years, including roles as host for “SportsCenter,” “SportsNation” and “First Take.”
Hill, meanwhile, spent 12 years with ESPN, hosting “SportsCenter,” “His and Hers” alongside Michael Smith and writing for The Undefeated. She is currently a writer at The Atlantic and hosts a podcast on Spotify.
One of the most prominent Black women in sports media, Hill gained further fame and criticism after her vocal comments about Trump.
The controversy continued to spiral in the following months. She was suspended by ESPN in October 2017 after saying that NFL fans should boycott advertisers who support the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones, who said during the NFL’s kneeling saga that he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the anthem. A few months later, Hill was bounced from hosting “SportsCenter” and started as a writer for The Undefeated, a website ESPN owns that covers the intersection of race and sports.
In 2020, Hill tweeted that all Trump voters are “racist.” In 2021, she called Sen. Joe Manchin a “cowardly, power-hungry White dude” who was upholding White supremacy after the West Virginia Democrat said he was opposed to a voting rights bill and changing the rules to the filibuster. She also said that America “loves White supremacy” after Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia gubernatorial race.
If you vote for Donald Trump, you are a racist. You have no wiggle room.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 19, 2020
It’s not the messaging, folks. This country simply loves white supremacy.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) November 3, 2021
This is so on brand for this country. Record number of black voters show up to save this democracy, only for white supremacy to be upheld by a cowardly, power-hungry white dude. @Sen_JoeManchin is a clown. https://t.co/fCMuyoLer3
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) June 6, 2021
Hill and Champion are the latest in a slew of hires by CNN for the new streaming platform, which is set to launch in April.
