In response to a lawsuit claiming beloved ESPN personality Chris Berman once left Jemele Hill a “racially disparaging” voicemail, the former host of “The Six” has denied the claim as “dangerously inaccurate.”
Adrienne Lawrence, who worked at ESPN on a two-year fellowship program, filed a lawsuit in Connecticut on Sunday with a variety of claims against the network making a case that it is a “toxic work environment for women,” according to USA Today. Berman’s alleged voicemail to Hill was just one of a handful of damning claims against several ESPN employees. (RELATED: Jemele Hill Says Calling Trump A White Supremacist Is Like Calling Water Wet)
“A few years ago, I had a personal conflict with Chris Berman, but the way this conflict has been characterized is dangerously inaccurate,” Hill wrote on Twitter in response to the reports. “Chris never left any racially disparaging remarks on my voicemail and our conflict was handled swiftly and with the utmost professionalism. I felt as if my concerns were taken seriously by ESPN and addressed in a way that made me feel like a valued employee.”
Re: Chris Berman pic.twitter.com/p7NqjHiV7r
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 6, 2018
“Frankly, I’m more disappointed that someone I considered to be a friend at one point would misrepresent and relay a private conversation without my knowledge — in which I simply attempted to be a sounding board — for personal gain,” she concluded.
Hill came under fire last summer after attacking Donald Trump in a series of tweets with regards to his comments about the white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia. If Lawrence’s claims about Berman were true, Hill would have handled them herself long ago.