I’m not sure who recorded this mtg between Rachel Nichols and LeBron’s guy, Adam Mendelsohn, but what an asshole move.
The audio is from a conversation prior to last year’s NBA finals. Nichols, pissed ESPN chose Mariah Taylor over her, wondered out loud if ESPN chose Mariah because it was ‘Black Chic’ with the BLM movement. At least, that’s what I get out of it.

An audio of ESPN reporter and host, Rachel Nichols, has surfaced, in a conversation with LeBron James’ spokesman, Adam Mendelsohn, where Rachel says Mariah Taylor was tabbed to cover last year’s NBA Finals because the company was feeling the pressure of last summer’s BLM movement pic.twitter.com/iXdUINf1W6

— Designated Report (@DesignatedRpt) July 4, 2021

Now, here’s the thing. Rachel’s ego is fucking HUGE if she thinks an inanimate job is hers because of who she is. Voicing this opinion is insulting to another professional broadcaster and Mariah Taylor is a pro’s pro.
It’s all Rachel’s white privilege and if she says she gets oppression because she’s a woman, then she should clearly understand why people have a problem with her perspective. And that IS her perspective because she said it in private.
It’s a question a lot of insecure white people will ask when a black person gets hired instead of them.
“Did that guy get hired because of his skin color”?
Maybe. Like white people have done for the past 500 years?

OR, maybe Mariah Taylor is really good at her job and Ms. Nichols has a cognitive bias against black people and feels threatened because she thinks REALLY highly of herself and the color of her skin.
What Rachel Nichols said was racist, and she may not be racist. That’s entirely possible. HOWEVER, even if I felt that way, the last thing I’d do is share that opinion. In private or public.

Wondering out loud if a black person got hired for a gig over you based on their skin color isn’t just racist, it makes the person repeating it look like a total fucking ego-centric asshole. Being known as an ego-centric asshole in a reputation-based business is almost as bad as having a reputation as a racist and Rach went 2 for 2 today so her getting fired isn’t out of the question.
While the newt who recorded and released the clip is still a dick, Rachel is accountable for what comes out of Rachel’s mouth 100 percent of the time.

We all are.

Cheers!

DB