Internal struggles have plagued ESPN since Rachel Nichols’ leaked comments about diversity and her fellow reporter Maria Taylor, The New York Times reported. The conflict originated when Nichols, who is white, voiced frustrations over the phone with Adam Mendelsohn, adviser to NBA superstar LeBron James. Nichols complained that the network decided to replace her with Taylor, who is Black, as host of the network’s coverage of 2020 NBA Finals. She appeared to imply she felt the move was inspired by Taylor’s race, according to a 20-minute recording of the call obtained by the Times. “If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity—which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it—like, go for it,” Nichols said. “Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.” The call was recorded and stored on ESPN’s servers until it was later recorded by an employee who had access to it who shared it among other employees before it was leaked to The New York Times. The paper reports the only person who has been disciplined since the call is the Black producer who shared the recording; she has since left the network. ESPN’s decision not to punish Nichols remains “an active source of pain” at the network, a source told the Times.
