Michael Smith rips ESPN for muting him and Jemele Hill

ESPN host Michael Smith was critical of the network for changing the vision of his “SC6” SportsCenter show, which he co-hosted with Jemele Hill.

Smith and Hill, who previously co-hosted “His & Hers” before moving to “The Six”, began hosting the show a year ago. But Hill got in trouble for her tweets about Donald Trump, which led to controversy and even a response from the president. Though she was not suspended then, she was later suspended for a tweet recommending a boycott.

Appearing on “Origins,” a podcast by James Andrew Miller, Smith said that ESPN essentially muted him and Hill after the incidents.

“There was a time we weren’t even talking to each other (on the program) anymore,” Smith told Miller, via the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal. “Like no more Michael and Jemele, not less, not here and there. No more Michael and Jemele talking. No more of their commentary. It’s just strictly live shots and analysts. That’s what pissed me off so much.

“I’m like, so wait a second, you all acknowledge that one of the strengths that we have going for us as a show is Michael and Jemele’s chemistry, but Michael and Jemele don’t (expletive) talk to each other? How does that make sense?”

The changes to the show led Hill to ask off of it so she could join “The Undefeated,” where she would have the platform to offer more of the type of commentary she wanted.