Maria Taylor has already moved on to bigger and better things in the fallout of Rachel Nichol’s jealous rant.
Weeks later (and not days), ESPN has finally dropped Nichols and canceled “The Jump.”
David Roberts, ESPN’s senior vice president of production, told CNN Business that they “mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned.”
Roberts added, “Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content,” he added.
A tape of Nichols complaining that Taylor was just a diversity hire in the recording after she was snubbed for the NBA finals hosting gig last summer. She was speaking to LeBron James’ advisor Adam Mendelsohn.
“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said in July 2020 via the New York Times.
“If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.”
After the clip leaked online, Nichols apologized, blaming her peers for the leak.
NBC Sports wasted no time and scooped Taylor up.
Reports suggest that Nichols sought at least $5 million for her new contract and that ESPN offered to increase her salary to at least $3 million.
“Incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work with Pete, Molly, Sam, Fred, and the entire NBC Sports family,” Taylor said in a statement released by NBC.
“Literally, hosting the Olympics, Football Night in America, and the Super Bowl is what I dreamed of when I started in television – and this would not be possible without standing on the shoulders of all of those who came before me and made this path possible. And I plan to pay it forward.”
