Last week, YouTube personality Jake Paul and former NBA star turned YouTuber Nate Robinson went head to head in a much-buzzed-about boxing match. In an interview after the bout, Jemele Hill asked Jake Paul if knocking out Nate Robinson was ‘racist.’
But as it turns out, Hill was just kidding.
Read More: Ex-NBA star Nate Robinson goes lights out in first boxing match with YouTuber Jake Paul
In their match at the Staples Center on Saturday, Nov. 28, Paul vs. Robinson was the co-main event. Both the YouTube and boxing communities joined forces to combine their audiences in a crossover event, leading to massive media coverage.
Paul definitely won the match, knocking out Robinson pretty quickly. With 1:35 left in the second round, Paul threw his KO. Robinson fell face first and was then unconscious for a little over a minute.
In the clip circling around the internet from the Vice TV show Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports, Hill asks, “Jake, considering where we are right now in our racial conversation in America, was what you did to Nate Robinson racist?”
Paul is immediately thrown off by the questions, telling her, “Nah, stop playin’ with me.”
She continues, “It looks like Nate was asleep before he ever hit the canvas.”
Paul replies that that “is what we train for” and that “you train to win.” HIll’s co-host Cari Champion continues to push, asking him again, “Was it racist to knock a Black man out? That is the question of the morning.”
Paul responded by calling it “a s—y question” and asks them “How does this have anything to do about race?”
As far as the interview, Champion and Hill have since clarified insisting that the question was in jest. Champion tweeted “This wasn’t an interview with weight. It was sarcastic- ya’ll need context?”
Read More: Nate Robinson shares iconic ‘Friday’ clip in response to knockout
Hill quoted that response, writing “What she said.” The hosts maintained that they and Jake were clearly laughing and that the social media blowback does not match the tone of the original video.
They urged fans to tune in to their show on Thursday at 11:30 p.m. on Vice TV for more context.
Some fans still had questions.
Paul’s brother is getting into boxing as well. Logan Paul is set to face boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Feb. 20.
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