ESPN announced on Friday that Jemele Hill will step down from her SportsCenter 6 p.m. anchor role to write for the company's sports, pop culture and race website, The Undefeated.
"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. 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 said in a statement Friday.
Hill added that she approached an ESPN executive about whether the company "would consider re-thinking my role," and said her first choice was working with The Undefeated.
Hill had been co-host of the SC6 hour for close to a year, starting last February in the lead role alongside fellow anchor Michael Smith.
Hill was suspended for two weeks in September for violating ESPN's social media policy — when she called President Donald Trump "a white supremacist" in a tweet. In response to Hill's comments about Trump, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for Hill to be fired. ESPN released a statement at the time that said Hill's comments "do not represent the position" of the company.
In her new role with The Undefeated, Hill will become senior columnist and chief correspondent. She will also do occasional commentary for SportsCenter, Outside the Lines and other ESPN shows. Her last day on SC6 is Feb. 2.
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