in  after learning that mayor kevin johnson primarily used a private email account with his staff while in public office the sacramento news  review issued a freedom of information request to gain access to then mayor kevin johnsons emails an attorney for the city deemed the emails public property but instead of handing them over the mayor moved to sue the sacramento news  review and the city of sacramento in response to the lawsuit the sacramento news  review published a cover story where according to their statement a cartoon depicts kevin johnson as "sweaty and nervous while reading about his lawsuit against this paper and allegations of email misuse" betty williams the former president of sacramentos local naacp and a longtime associate of kevin johnson released a statement criticizing the paper for its "racially biased news coverage" of the mayor mainly referring to the cartoon portrayal of the mayor the lawsuit and the allegations of racially biased news coverage attracted the attention of deadspin who began covering the story bringing national attention to the many allegations against kevin johnson including allegations of sexual assault and harassment this national attention put pressure on espn to not air a film praising kevin johnsons work in sacramento with the sacramen