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Sportscaster Hill Suspended by ESPN After NFL Boycott Call

Sportscaster Hill was reprimanded last month by ESPN for racial comments against Trump.

(Bloomberg) -- Sportscaster Jemele Hill, reprimanded last month by ESPN for racially charged remarks about President Donald Trump, was suspended by the network after calling on fans to boycott sponsors of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

The sports TV personality was suspended for two weeks for her “second violation of our social media guidelines,” ESPN, owned by Walt Disney Co., said in a statement Monday that was posted on Twitter.

Sportscaster Hill Suspended by ESPN After NFL Boycott Call

Hill was cautioned last month over her tweets after calling Trump a white supremacist. In her latest outburst, she urged backers of football players’ protests during the national anthem to target advertisers. Her comments came after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ordered players to stand during the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross urged his team to stand.

“If you strongly reject what Jerry Jones said, the key is his advertisers. Don’t place the burden squarely on the players,” Hill wrote. “Or, how about not patronizing the advertisers who support the Cowboys? You can watch and and do that, right?

Hill tried to walk back her remarks in a posting Monday, saying “Just so we’re clear: I’m not advocating an NFL boycott. But an unfair burden has been put on players in Dallas and Miami w/anthem directives.”

The call for a boycott of sponsors represents a threat to broadcasters that spend billions of dollars on rights to carry the National Football League. ESPN is spending $15.2 billion to carry games from 2014 to 2021, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV is paying $12 billion for its Sunday Ticket package.

“Employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions have consequences,” the network said. “Hence this decision.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Bruce Rule