Despite being with ESPN for more than a decade, Mina Kimes can’t open social media without critics questioning her football knowledge. Many fans have repeatedly slammed the analyst for being an Asian-American female NFL analyst. Now, Kimes has added another instance to show that DEI isn’t really a bad thing.
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“I get called DEI bi— all day,” Kimes said on South Beach Sessions With Dan Le Batard. “Like, if you guys search my name, I’m sure, like the first thing… That’s new, right? Because of the last couple of years. But like, yeah, I am DEI. And it’s not the way that it’s being interpreted now, which is a stand in for a slur, as a stand in for being unqualified.
“It’s because when I first came into this industry, the people who had me on the shows, like Dan, like ESPN, who hired me, had to open up their Rolodex and think like, ‘Well, this person is doing something entirely different. But she also seems to love football. What if we gave her this opportunity and it’s something that we hadn’t considered before? Let’s see if we can include her.’ And they did, and I took it, and I ran with it. That is what it means. Even though it’s been bastardized.”
Bill Lawrence, however, argued that ESPN likely made a “sound and smart business decision” behind hiring Kimes back in 2014. He believed that the media corporations weren’t just benevolent and wouldn’t hire anyone without any reason. He further suggested that people should be open to bringing someone with a diverse background into the big picture.
“I wish we still were able to have that conversation in our industry,” Kimes continued. “And it feels like now people are shying away from it a lot. And I don’t know if you’re, obviously that’s not something that you’re doing, but it’s something you’ve thought a lot about over the last few years, of the last ten years plus.”
It all began when diversity, equity, and inclusion programs came under attack in America in the last few years. It was also when an internet troll claimed that ESPN hired Kimes just because of the DEI program. The troll even questioned her football knowledge, claiming that anyone who watched professional football players and considered Kimes an expert was “pathetic.”
Needless to say, Kimes had to clear the air. She took to social media when she stumbled upon the troll’s remark. Of course, she gets called a “DEI hire.” And it was nothing new. But ESPN didn’t hire her just because she’s an Asian female who wanted to be an NFL analyst.
“I was a business journalist, investigative reporter for Fortune Magazine, Bloomberg, BusinessWeek, but I also loved football, and I wrote a personal essay on football,” Kimes noted in the social media video. “And the editors at ESPN magazine reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, we’re trying to think outside the box and expand our scope for the types of people we hire because we want some different viewpoints and to find talent in different places, places we hadn’t considered. Would you ever consider switching to being a sports writer?’
“That is what diversity, equity, inclusion is all about. It’s been twisted into a pejorative, like a slur. It’s been derogative to say people are unqualified, when in fact, it’s to find people who are actually qualified but haven’t been considered or given the opportunities.”
In another video on TikTok, Mina Kimes addressed a few trolls with a strong move. She didn’t argue. She didn’t try to justify anything. Instead, she put forth her Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show.
While internet trolls continue to weaponize DEI to undermine her football expertise, Kimes refuses to back down. With twelve years of elite analysis and a Sports Emmy on her shelf, she has proven her voice carries real weight.