Jemele Hill proudly picked “a fight” with Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy after he boldly called LSU player Angel Reese a “classless piece of sh*t.”
Reese has been the topic of discussion after taunting Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark at the end of Sunday’s NCAA women’s basketball national championship game. Reese’s actions have received mixed reactions on social media from some who think she showed unsportsmanlike conduct and others who think she’s being harshly judged compared to Clark, who made the same gesture at Iowa’s Elite Eight win over Louisville.
But Portnoy was among those turned off by Reese’s “you can’t see me” hand gesture and referred to the Black basketball player as a “classless piece of sh*t.”
Leave it up to Hill to reignite her age-old feud with Portnoy in response to his criticism. Once the sports journalist caught wind of Portnoy’s comments, she fired back in true Jemele Hill fashion.
“So I’m going to pick this fight. F**k you,” she quipped.
Shaquille O’Neal joined Hill in calling out Portnoy’s cold-hearted criticism of the college basketball player.
“and so is your mother,” Shaq tweeted back, as captured
by the NY Post.Stephen A. Smith has defended Reese by explaining why he believes she was judged more harshly than Clark because of her race.
Meanwhile, Reese remains unapologetic about her hand gesture despite the ongoing backlash.
“I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year,” she said during a recent press conference.
“But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. So this is for the girls that look like me.”
On Monday, LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey defended Reese on the Today show, saying that Reese refuses to apologize and noting trash-talk is part of her game as a player.
“[Reese] was upset because they [the public] attack her and they didn’t attack Caitlin and things like that,” Mulkey said.