She did not exit her Sportscenter ESPN gig quietly and has spoken about leaving back in 2018, and Jemele Hill is giving more insight into her time with the network. The journalist co-hosted His & Hers with Michael Smith and it is well-documented that the relationship between Hill and ESPN wasn’t the calmest of waters. During her visit to Assets Over Liabilities, Hill revealed that during her tenure on His & Hers, she made $200,000 less than her co-host.
Others in Hill’s position would have outwardly blamed the network for not seeing their value, but Hill took a different approach by adding that negotiations play a key role in getting what you want.
Marcus Ingram / Stringer / Getty Images
“I was making $200,000 less than him even though we were doing the same job,” said Hill. “It’s not so much about what you’re worth, it’s about what you will negotiate. I started at ESPN at such a low salary to begin with. One of those, ‘We’ll see how it works kind of contracts.’ A two-and-two contract: two-year deal with a two-year option, one of the worst contracts I ever signed.”
“My first year was $120,000, but that’s as an independent contractor, so that means I had to pay my own taxes and no health insurance. The lesson that I learned, you can’t sell out for a name,” she added. Because working for Sportscenter wasn’t some lifelong dream she had held onto, it was easy for Hill to walk away.
Watch Jemele Hill on Assets Over Liabilities below.
[via]