Jemele Hill: ‘I deserved a suspension, I violated the policy’

Suspended ESPN host Jemele Hill said on Saturday that she understands why she was suspended by the network, and is on good terms with ESPN.

“I will tell people, absolutely after my Donald Trump tweets, I deserved that suspension,” Hill told TMZ in an interview, adding “I violated the policy.”

{mosads}Hill’s comments come before she returns to ESPN on Monday. 

The “Sports Center” co-host was suspended earlier this month after she said in a tweet her followers should consider boycotting advertisers of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after he threatened to bench any player who took a knee during the national anthem.

Hill had also come under fire for referring to President Trump as a white supremacist in a tweet in September.  

Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017

“Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for a second violation of our social media guidelines,” ESPN said in a statement earlier this month. “She previously acknowledged letting her colleagues and company down with an impulsive tweet.”

“In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences,” the statement said. 

Despite accepting her punishment, Hill told TMZ she would not take back what she said in her previous tweets. 

“I put ESPN in a bad spot. I’ll never take back what I said,” she said.