Founder and CEO of popular US sports website The Ringer, Bill SImmons, has apologised for a "tone deaf" conversation on his podcast as employees at the company raised concerns about racial diversity in their ranks.
Simmons was joined by co-host Ryen Russillo to discuss the protests across America in the wake of George Floyd's death. The discussion did not go over well with co-workers.
The conversation sparked backlash from his own employees, criticising the company's diversity and hiring process after Russillo lauded Simmons for his efforts to establish a diverse group of people at the network.
"Look at you, Bill, look at the people you've hired, look at the company that you've started," Russillo said. "Look at the jobs and opportunities that you've given a diverse group, which I know you're always looking to do.
"I'm not bulls–ting, I'm not kissing up to you here. These are facts. You have tried for a very long time to make sure your hiring is as diverse as possible. And you've done these things."
Unfortunately his testimonial wasn't received well as employees pointed out that a very large section of The Ringer workforce is white.
"Diversity in the newsroom is essential to covering police brutality and systemic racism, including in the worlds of sports and pop culture. The Ringer has a lot of work to do," The Ringer Union sent from their account.
https://twitter.com/RingerUnion/status/1267533194603225091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/RingerUnion/status/1267533195299430400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"In 2019, 86% of speakers on The Ringer Podcast Network were white. We have zero black editors. We have zero black writers assigned full time to the NBA or NFL beats. Our union is currently bargaining for practices to improve our diversity and inclusion."
Staff writer John Gonzalez supported the statement put out by the Ringer Union.
"If you've heard someone say The Ringer is a super diverse place, sadly that person does not know what he's talking about. We have a long way to go, and I hope we get there," Gonzalez wrote.
In a follow up podcast this week, Simmons addressed the issue of a lack of diversity during the previous show with Russillo, by inviting civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson to join his show.
"I've been thinking long and hard about my podcast in general and this platform, and what I want to do with it over the next few weeks and months," Simmons said at the start of Wednesday's podcast.
"I think I just misread the moment on Sunday night, you know, was trying to do a 'shoot the s–t,' take your mind off things kind of podcast like we would always do on Sunday and the moment was bigger than that.
"I wish I'd have had an expert with us that we could've bounced some questions off of and tried to learn from, instead of treating the moment like we did. I apologise for that. Look, I'm 50 years old. I still barely know what I'm doing and I'm still gonna make mistakes. I'm still not gonna throw a no-hitter every step of the way. The only thing I can do is learn from a mistake and try to get better at it."
The controversy comes after Spotify acquired The Ringer for almost US$200 million leaving Simmons with a massive payout.
Simmons, a former ESPN journalist, founded The Ringer in 2016 after leaving the network on bad terms.
He is the company's largest shareholder, though his exact stake isn't known. The entertainment company HBO also owns 10% of the company.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/news/the-ringer-exposed-by-own-employees-over-racial-diversity/8d008dfa-0376-40b8-9968-4841196adbba
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