Cari Champion & Jemele Hill Criticized For Asking Jake Paul If It Was Racist To Knock Out Nate Robinson

December 9, 2020 by Robin Ayers in TV with 0 Comments

Cari Champion & Jemele Hill Criticized For Asking Jake Paul If It Was Racist To Knock Out Nate Robinson

Television journalists Cari Champion and Jemele Hill’s recent comments aren’t sitting well with some fans who were upset about the question they posed to Youtube star Jake Paul. Jake Paul quickly became the center of attention following the much anticipated Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones, Jr. fight on November 28.

Jake Paul participated in a match of his own, fighting former NBA star Nate Robinson, and took everyone by surprise when he knocked Nate Robinson clean out. The shocking move started a #naterobinsonchallenge where people would simply lay out, face down on the floor. The knock out also caused many people to put some unanticipated, newfound respect on Jake Paul’s name.

Two people who aren’t championing Jake Paul’s glory are VICE TV’s Cari Champion and Jemele Hill. During a recent episode of Stick To Sports with Paul as the guest star, Jemele Hill begins,

“This is our question of the week we saw what happened to Nate Robinson so I’m gonna ask Jake Paul right here in front of America. Jake, um considering where we are right now in our racial conversation in America, was what you did to Nate Robinson racist?”

Jake’s initial response seemed to somewhat play it cool. He jokingly answered,

“Nah. Stop playin’ with me.”

He further explained,

“Yeah, I mean this is what we train for. You know at the end of the day boxing’s a sport, and uh, you know you train to win. Nate, Nate is the one who called me out originally.”

His answer didn’t seem to suffice as Cari Champion then asked him again,

“Okay first and foremost, was it racist to knock a black man out? That is the question.”

Clearly agitated with the question, Jake responded,

“No. Stop asking me that, I said “no, it’s not racist”. It’s a sh*tty question. It’s a sport.”

Question of the week: was @jakepaul KO to Nate Robinson racist? ? pic.twitter.com/ogSqHj764s

— VICE TV (@VICETV) December 4, 2020

There were many people on social media who agreed with Jake Paul, too. Take a look at some reactions from Twitter below.

Cari Champion has since responded to the criticism on Twitter.

She wrote:

“Y’all, @jemelehill and I were trolling a troll with permission. This wasn’t an interview with weight. It was sarcastic- y’all need context? Bc if y’all can’t hear the laughing, the bad WiFi connection- smh. So for the outraged! For more context Thurs. at 1130pm on @VICETV“