Photo: Amy E. Price/Getty; Rich Barnes/Getty
On Sunday, 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.
“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 the show.
Amid the fallout, on Tuesday — which was also Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals — ESPNnamedMalika Andrews as the Finals sideline reporter instead of Nichols. Taylor returned for her second season as host ofNBA Countdown, the pregame and halftime show of the Finals. “We believe this is the best decision for all concerned in order to keep the focus on the NBA Finals. Rachel will continue to hostThe Jump,” the network said in astatement.
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.”
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.”
Since Nichols' July 2020 call, Taylor and Nichols have not appeared together on camera.
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
The timing of the leaked call making headlines comes as Taylor’s contract with ESPN expires this month.
On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to reporters about the league and the Finals including the Nichols-Taylor drama, calling it “disheartening,” according toYahoo! Sports. “I think it’s particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other. I know that both Rachel and Maria are terrific at what they do. They work extraordinarily hard.”
Silver also noted: “I think part of the problem is that when people can’t get in a room and talk through these issues, this seemingly has festered now for a full year. I would have thought that in the past year, maybe through some incredibly difficult conversations, that ESPN would have found a way to be able to work through it. Obviously not.”
source: people.com
