On the day she apologized for calling her parent company’s vaccine mandate “sick” and “scary,” it was learned that ESPN’s Sage Steele tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy:
ESPN anchor Sage Steele has been removed from the air, sources told Front Office Sports.
The co-anchor of the noon ‘SportsCenter’ is expected to be off for at least a week, said sources. Steele is also expected to skip her turn as host of the espnW: Women + Sports Summit, which takes place Oct. 18-20.
Steele has tested positive for COVID-19, according to sources. But her not appearing on air goes beyond her diagnosis.
Steele was already in hot water due to a podcast appearance on Uncut with Jay Cutler, in which she questioned former President Obama’s decision to identify as black on a census, given that he was raised by his mother’s family, who is white, and his black father was “nowhere to be found.”
Steele also said that women who dress provocatively should bear some of the responsibility for the reaction they receive from men, and she directly blasted Disney for what she called a “sick” and “scary.” vaccine mandate.
ESPN anchor Sage Steele told Jay Cutler it was “fascinating” Obama indicated he was Black on his census form “considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found.” pic.twitter.com/dfrnDydFd8
— Resist Programming (@RzstProgramming) October 3, 2021
Sage Steele believes women “need to be responsible as well” for inappropriate comments directed at them.
Sage tells young women, “when you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you put that outfit on too.” pic.twitter.com/6CrxOoXILN
— Resist Programming (@RzstProgramming) October 4, 2021
On Tuesday, Sports Business Journal media reporter John Ourand reported Steele’s apology and ESPN’s statement addressing her remarks.
Sage Steele: "I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize. We are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts all of us, and it's more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully."
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) October 5, 2021
ESPN: "At ESPN, we embrace different points of view – dialogue and discussion makes this place great. That said, we expect that those points of view be expressed respectfully, in a manner consistent with our values, and in line with our internal policies…"
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) October 5, 2021
More ESPN: "…We are having direct conversations with Sage and those conversations will remain private."
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) October 5, 2021
Sage Steele will not appear at the espnW Summit or on SportsCenter this week, I'm told.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) October 5, 2021
About Disney’s mandate to get vaccinated by September 30, Steele referenced it as something “scary,” but unsurprising.
“It’s scary to me in many ways, but I have a job that I love and frankly a job that I need,” Steele said. “I’m not surprised that it got to this point, especially with Disney, I mean a global company like that.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.