It's been almost one year since ESPN laid off roughly 100 front-facing employees. One of the more well-known victims was reporter Britt McHenry, who's maintained in recent months that she was targeted for her conservative political views. In an interview with "Kirk & Callahan" Tuesday, McHenry reiterated her contention.
"Five days before the layoffs, I was told from internal management that I was fine –– that this would only create more opportunities for me," she said. "So to say I felt railroaded when it happened, when I was all the way across the country in Arizona on one of the top assignments they have –– the NFL Draft –– nothing like packing your bags to fly four and a half hours when you just got laid off. I think it was very known how my views were. I was told to silence them, I was told to not engage in anything on Twitter that related to conservative politics and conservative views. And I just think, 'Look at some of the other people on the roster, and the things they've said on the spectrum of views and how they're treated.'"
One of the obvious examples of ESPN's seeming double-standard is anchor Jemele Hill, who remained on the air after calling President Donald Trump a "white supremacist" on Twitter last fall. Hill wound up getting suspended weeks later for suggesting Cowboys fans boycott the team's sponsors if they disagreed with owner Jerry Jones' public edict about players standing for the national anthem.
Still, Hill kept her job upon returning, and continues to wade into political topics on Twitter. She was recently reassigned from "SportsCenter" and moved to a roving role, in which she appears on both the network's digital and television properties.
"With the Jemele Hill thing, when she called not only President Trump a white supremacist, but anybody who voted for him a (white supremacist), and she's on the set the very next day, hosting 'SportsCenter,' how can you say that's fair, given some of the treatment Sage Steele and I got there," McHenry said. "And a lot of people want to say, 'It's because of the towing incident.' That was three years ago. And actually, my deal had just been picked up a month before the layoffs. So that was another thing in my head. 'Why would you pick somebody up, why would you give out much longer deals to other people, only to lay them off?' None of it made sense. It broke my heart, but you move on."
In addition to discussing her experiences with ESPN, McHenry also clarified her tweet last week about former offensive lineman Jonathan Martin. The ex-player, who was the target of the Dolphins bullying scandal five years ago, was detained Friday after sharing a menacing post on Instagram in which he appeared to issue a threat against his former high school and two of his former teammates, Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. Investigator Ted Wells found that both players subjected Martin to a "pattern of harassment" during their time in Miami.
"Remember when society demonized Richie Incognito? Nearly destroyed his career because of words he said. Jonathan Martin threatens to shoot up a school & somehow he'll be coddled because of mental health," McHenry tweeted Saturday.
When asked about her controversial remark, McHenry stressed that she wasn't trying to belittle Martin.
