Photo: Michael J. LeBrecht II/Getty
ESPN has reportedly canceled Rachel Nichols' daytime show,The Jump, and is removing her from the network’s NBA programming.
Nicholsaddressed the cancellation of her showon Twitter Wednesday, writing: “The Jumpwas never built to last forever but it sure was fun.”
ESPN did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In July, theNew York Timespublished audio of Nichols' July 2020 call, in which she suggested that Taylor, a Black colleague, had received a new role at the network due to ESPN’s “crappy longtime record on diversity.” That year, Taylor was named host of ESPN’s pregame and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals — a role that Nichols claimed was given to Taylor because of her race rather than her talent.
According to theTimes, unbeknownst to Nichols at the time, her call was being recorded to a server at ESPN’s Connecticut headquarters. Someone in Connecticut then recorded her conversation on a cell phone and shared it with others at the network, including executives.
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“So the first thing they teach you in journalism school is don’t be the story, and I don’t plan to break that rule today or distract from a fantastic Finals. But I also don’t want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect, how much I value our colleagues here at ESPN, how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be part of this outstanding team,” Nichols said on her show.
In responses to theTimes, Nichols said she was “unloading to a friend about ESPN’s process, not about Maria” in her July 2020 call, adding, “My own intentions in that conversation, and the opinion of those in charge at ESPN, are not the sum of what matters here — if Maria felt the conversation was upsetting, then it was, and I was the cause of that for her.”
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Nichols also said she made attempts to apologize to Taylor via text messages and phone calls but “Maria has chosen not to respond to these offers, which is completely fair and a decision I respect.”
source: people.com
