Jemele Hill was recently interviewed as part of OZYFest, a yearly gathering sponsored by OZY.com of personalities from across the media, culture, politics, and more. Hill appeared on the event’s main stage to talk about the past, present, and future directions of her career. She revealed to the crowd that while she doesn’t have any current plans to leave ESPN, she doesn’t see herself covering sports for her entire career.
Peter Bukowski wrote about the exchange for OZY.com using the headline “Jemele Hill Plans to Leave ESPN, Won’t Kiss Political Ass”. The super-clickbait-y headline doesn’t quite matchup with Hill’s actual quote in the article.
I haven’t made a bad career decision yet, and I’ll know when the right opportunity comes my way because it’ll really have to be special to really leave the sweet spot I’m at now at ESPN.
Hill herself took to Twitter to clarify that she isn’t looking to break her contract, which will keep her at ESPN for at least two more years.
Jemele Hill was at the center of a firestorm after she called President Trump a white supremacist on Twitter earlier this year. She told the OZYFest crowd that she was already thinking about what her next 10-15 years would look like before the controversy and subsequent suspension, but those events, which lead to her leaving the 6pm SportsCenter to focus on writing for The Undefeated, did speed up the process.
As for what she might want to do outside of the sports realm, Hill says she doesn’t have a lot of experience to fall back on. “I’ve only had two jobs outside of sports media. I ran a snack counter for the YMCA … and I delivered phone books in college.” Bukowski’s article says that Hill could be laying the groundwork for a move into documentary filmmaking.
Hill and her college roommate recently started a production company last August. The next iteration of her career? Creating content behind the camera. “As much as I’d like to tell you about Golden State’s latest game or tell you about why Jacksonville can win the Super Bowl, some days I just didn’t give a shit because of everything else that was happening in this country.”
Hill says she has been asked about making a political run. She says that while she briefly considered it, she realized that running for office involves kissing “a little too much ass. That’s not my strong suit”
