Adrienne Lawrence Lawsuit Against ESPN Claims Chris Berman Left Jemele Hill a 'Racially Disparaging' Voicemail

Adrienne Lawrence has filed a lawsuit against ESPN pertaining to alleged sexual discrimination, hostile work environment, and more. According to TMZ, Lawrence detailed a specific ugly communication from Chris Berman to Jemele Hill:

"“In early 2016, ESPN’s ‘The Undefeated’ personality Jemele Hill received a threatening and racially disparaging voicemail from Berman on her ESPN phone line.” Lawrence claims Hill notified ESPN executive Marcia Keegan — who oversaw Hill’s show, “His & Hers” — but ultimately “nothing was done.” Lawrence claims Berman has been involved in multiple incidents involving mistreatment of women — but “remains a celebrated and welcome ESPN employee.”"

Jemele Hill’s agent declined initial comment to The Big Lead. We have reached out to ESPN for comment and will update if/when we hear back.

[UPDATE: Jemele Hill responded to the lawsuit on Twitter, calling the characterization of the voicemail “dangerously inaccurate”. ESPN also released a statement.]

The Big Lead first reported in 2015 that ESPN settled a sexual harassment claim made by a former makeup artist pertaining to comments and text messages allegedly made by Berman.

Adrienne Lawrence made a litany of allegations against ESPN in a story first reported by the Boston Globe. ESPN responded by releasing significant portions of a text exchange between her and SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross, segments of which she had believed were problematic. Lawrence responded with this tweet: