Sage Steele gave her first interview following her ESPN exit to Megyn Kelly on Thursday. She appeared on the former FOX News host’s SiriusXM show to talk about the lawsuit she settled with the network and her reasons for leaving.
“All I ever wanted was consistency,” Steele said.
She came under fire in 2021 for an appearance on Jay Cutler’s podcast. On that show, she called the network’s policy requiring employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 “sick and scary” and questioned the legitimacy of former president Barack Obama identifying as Black.
Shortly after that, Steele was sidelined when she contracted Covid-19. She claims she was told she had to apologize for her comments before she would be allowed back on the network.
Her argument was that ESPN’s stance on political speech was hypocritical. It didn’t seem to be a problem for the network when her colleagues made statements about the murder of George Floyd and racial justice on ESPN.
“If we are allowing my peers to go on social media, much less on our own airwaves, saying things…that have nothing to do with sports that are political…then I should be allowed on my personal time to give my opinion on my experiences personally, without telling others what to do…I think that’s just what breaks my heart – that there were different rules for me than everyone else.”
Steele also reiterated her belief that she was bullied by the network and her colleagues. She said that there was no support for her in Bristol and that she was “scared” to return to work.
“I don’t care anymore because this is my experience,” she said of telling her story. “I’m allowed to feel the way I feel. When you try to silence me, I’m done.”
