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I really didn& #39;t want to say anything about this, but then I read it. Every single quote in here makes my blood boil. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/business/media/bill-simmons-the-ringer-black-employees.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/2...
"Mr. Simmons said by email that it had been difficult to hire and retain staff members early on, because The Ringer was a start-up competing against deeper-pocketed competitors." I would have worked there in a second, if they had even let me apply for a job.
I inquired multiple times about working at The Ringer and was either ignored or told they weren& #39;t hiring.
Instead, I went to The Guardian, and then Bleacher Report. I happily co-hosted the wrestling podcast, and did it for free, because I thought I was part of "the family" from writing at Grantland.
I stopped doing the podcast for free because 1) They were never going to pay me. 2) There was no internal interest in growing the show. 3) I wanted to work at WWE, which I did.
Graciously, an editor gave me the chance to freelance after WWE let me go. I was told a "higher up" (you can guess who) didn& #39;t want me freelancing because I might ruin their relationship with WWE, as though I had been fired for cause, which I was not.
Despite a request to speak to the "higher up" about my situation, I was basically told "too bad," and I moved on.
Maybe Bill Simmons has a problem with me personally. Maybe someone else in that company does, which wouldn& #39;t shock me. All I know is that even at Grantland, I felt like I wasn& #39;t taken seriously/patronized by half the staff.
It& #39;s a toxic work environment, period. It& #39;s one that& #39;s hostile to its union. No one should have been shocked that an employee had a breakdown while on staff.
I don& #39;t like saying any of this shit, but I think every single black person in media and entertainment is sick of reading stories like this New York Times piece. It pisses us all off, and if we don& #39;t talk about it now, we never will.
When I got a job at Grantland, I respected the hell out of Bill Simmons. I was a huge fan, and it was the greatest feeling getting to work there. I looked up to him, but every step of the way, I felt worse about the whole thing.
