Jemele Hill Says Chris Berman Never Left Her Racist Voicemail

Former ESPN television personality Jemele Hill claims Chris Berman never left her a racist voicemail, despite reports from Monday afternoon.

She did, however, confirm that she had a “personal conflict” with the former commentator.

“A few years ago, I had a personal conflict with Chris Berman, but the way this conflict has been characterized is dangerously inaccurate,” Hill wrote in a tweet responding to the report. “Chris never left any racially disparaging remarks on my voicemail and our conflict was handled swiftly and with the utmost professionalism. I felt as if my concerns were taken seriously by ESPN and addressed in a way that made me feel like a valued employee. Frankly, I’m more disappointed that someone I considered to be a friend at one point would misrepresent and relay a private conversation without my knowledge — in which I simply attempted to be a sounding board — for personal gain.”

The report originally came out when former ESPN employee Adrienne Lawrence filed a sexual assault lawsuit, claiming ESPN was a hostile work environment for women.

Lawrence’s claim included Hill receiving a “threatening and racially disparaging voicemail” from Berman and that Hill forwarded it to Human Resources, only for no action to be taken.

“Despite his continued and repeated misconduct toward women, Berman remains a celebrated and welcome ESPN employee,” the lawsuit reads.

ESPN released a statement of its own on Monday night.

“We conducted a thorough investigation of the claims Adrienne Lawrence surfaced to ESPN and they are entirely without merit,” the statement read. “Ms. Lawrence was hired into a two-year talent development program and was told that her contract would not be renewed at the conclusion of the training program. At that same time, ESPN also told 100 other talent with substantially more experience, that their contracts would not be renewed. The company will vigorously defend its position and we are confident we will prevail in court.”

Lawrence’s sexual harassment and discrimination allegations first came to light on Dec. 14, in a report from the Boston Globe where she accused co-worker John Buccigross of texting her unsolicited shirtless photos and calling her names like “dollface” and “long legs” while in the workplace.

Buccigross has since spoken out publicly in an attempt to defend himself.

“I considered Adrienne to be a friend,” Buccigross told the Globe in December. “I’m sorry if anything I did or said offended Adrienne. It certainly wasn’t my intent.”