Jemele Hill says she feels 'terribly sad' for Karmelo Anthony because his lawyer was white
Former ESPN host Jemele Hill says she feels "terribly sad" about the situation involving Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf.
Specifically, she's sad that Anthony, who murdered Metcalf, was represented by a white lawyer.
"This is just terribly sad," Hill wrote on Threads in response to Anthony having a white attorney. "Also, there were black attorneys that reached out, but there are some hard lessons in this case that our community needs to remember."
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That's her takeaway from a case that ended with the senseless death of a 17-year-old boy: Anthony should have had a black lawyer.
Hill has been somewhat coy about the case, but she clearly wants to leave her followers with the impression that Anthony is somehow a victim of a racist justice system. Earlier this week, she suggested his actions were no different from those of George Zimmerman and Kyle Rittenhouse, both of whom were acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
Of course, there is no meaningful comparison between Anthony and either Zimmerman or Rittenhouse. According to the police report, Metcalf shoved Anthony. Anthony then responded by stabbing him to death.
Put simply, shoving someone does not give you the right to stab them to death — no matter the colors of their skin.
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Hill knows that. That's why she won't come out and directly say Anthony is innocent. However, she seems determined to give the impression to her followers that she sympathizes with the black kid, the one who committed the murder.
OutKick sought clarification from Hill via text message. We asked whether she genuinely feels more sympathy for Karmelo Anthony than for Austin Metcalf, as her social media activity suggests. She did not respond before publication. We will update this story if she does.
It's also worth remembering that Hill's schtick is an act. It's hardly authentic.
Her public brand is built around the idea that she despises white people. Last year, she claimed that white men have been the "worse [sic] thing in America for decades" and deserve to face the "consequences" of that. Yet in real life, she surrounds herself with and partners with white men.
In fact, her longtime business partner is Evan Dick, a white man.
We don't know what's more shameful: harboring racist views like Joy Reid or pretending to harbor them for clout like Jemele Hill. It's close.
In any event, Hill is using her grift at the expense of a dead 17-year-old kid. That's abhorrent.
Karmelo Anthony is not the victim, regardless of the race of his attorney. He killed a kid. If anything, the maximum 35-year sentence he received is too light.
Anthony will get another chance at life. Austin Metcalf, the teenager he killed, will not. And that is what is, to use Hill's phrase, terribly sad.