gpa. we re always having to prove and overprove ourselves. part of the issue with what we re seeing now with espn is not just in what s happened recently but that they have had a year to deal with this. this happened a year ago. they didn t respond to this because it happened. they responded to it because it became public. and when you look at the way they responded initially, when the very first statement was put out last july, they didn t mention maria taylor by name at all. their statement was complaining about how rachel nickels privacy was violated by the leaking of this phone call. in fact, maria taylor, the first time they reached out to her was not to see how she was doing but to ask her if she had leaked the tape. and to this day the only espn employee who has faced any kind of disciplinary action was the black video producer who shared with maria taylor as a courtesy to say you should see this. she was suspended for two weeks and since left the company. espn has a long histo
complaints about being insensitive to racial diversity issues. that is why they made the statement they made and i spoke with folks yesterday and what should be noted in demands, they re not speaking just espn, they want to speak to disney and their bosses because they don t have any faith that espn can manage this. this story isn t going away. thank you for your perspective on this. coming up, britney spears mother weighs in on her family feud over the pop star s conservatorship. a 90s classic gets a new twist thanks to the pandemic. juvenile joins us next. you love rich, delicious ice cream. but your stomach doesn t.
shots. the recording, which she called a spy video, made the rounds inside espn last summer, stirring racial tensions amid a nationwide reckoning about racism. this is just a really unfortunate situation. reporter: now it s public and even the nba commissioner is weighing in. i think it s particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other. reporter: espn management is coming under scrutiny. it s a huge mess for espn. clay travis the founder of conservative sports media company outkick calling her a hypocrite. many of the super woke white people love the idea of diversity and inclusion as long as their own jobs aren t impacted by that diversity and inclusion push. reporter: others are pointing out that this tape leaked right as taylor s contract is about to expire. possibly giving her more leverage. she s not commenting. but the times quoted her email to executives last summer citing
but that just means i m still in the fight. growing controversy over race shining a harsh light on espn. let s get the latest from cnn s. reporter: the biggest story of the nba finals is off the court and on tv as a candid and krin ji recording royals espn. the new york times revealing the tape of host rachel nickels who is white griping to a friend that the network gave a coveted job to a black reporter, maria taylor. i wish her all the success in the world. she covers, football, basketball but you need to give her more things to do because you re feeling pressure about your crappy, long-time record on diversity, which i myself like know personally from the female side of it, go for it. just find it somewhere else. you re not going to find it with me and taking my thing away. she thought she was speaking privately but her words were beamed back to espn through a camera set up for her live
complaints about racial insensitivity. she said simply being a front facing black woman at this company has taken its toll. physically and mentally. nickels is apologizing for disappointing those i hurt particularly maria taylor. and saying she s grateful to be on the team. espn pulled her from sideline duties and appointed malika andrews, who is black. and it was taylor who introduced andrews on tuesday night. and now it s my pleasure to welcome in malika andrews who will be on the sideline for the first time in an nba finals game in her career. reporter: now as onlookers speculate about nickels and taylor s futures at espn, the nba commissioner is speaking out against cancel culture. people recognize that people make mistakes, that careers shouldn t be erased, you know, by a single comment. reporter: brian stelter, cnn, new york. let s talk about this now with journalist maria schiavocampo, she is the host of run tell this which is a