Former Rare Staff
After ESPN’s Jemele Hill received backlash for calling President Trump a white supremacist on Twitter, another host at the network has made controversial comments about the president despite a new policy barring staff from partisan endorsements or attacks.
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During an appearance on Viceland’s “Desus & Mero,” Katie Nolan and hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero discussed whether the “thumbs up” sign is now a white supremacist symbol “because Trump always does this [thumbs up] with his thing.”
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“That’s because he’s a [bleep],” Nolan said. “Back it up. Back it up. That’s because he is a f**king stupid person.”
Although Viceland allows cursing on the show, the program actually did bleep out Nolan’s immediate response, and it’s unclear what vulgar term she initially used to describe the president.
All eyes are on ESPN now, as the network was forced to create a new social media policy censoring political statements by its staff after Hill’s controversial remark about President Trump prompted outrage.
“Commentaries on relevant sports-related issues are appropriate, but we should refrain from overt partisanship or endorsement of particular candidates, politicians or political parties,” the policy reads, adding that employees should avoid “personal attacks and inflammatory rhetoric.”
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It’s unclear, however, if Nolan is actually in violation of the policy — as her comments occurred on television as opposed to on social media — or if she will be punished for the remarks as Hill was. Hill, who was suspended for two weeks following additional tweets about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the NFL national anthem protests, admitted that she felt much of the backlash she faced was partially due to the medium she used and that her words may not have caused such anger had she said them on TV instead.
Nolan was hired by ESPN in October of 2017 after previously working for Fox Sports.
