ESPN SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele has reportedly apologized for comments made in a recent podcast in which she was critical of Barack Obama’s father, provocative women’s attire, and of parent-company Disney’s vaccine policy. In response, ESPN says Steele will not appear at the espnW Summit or on SportsCenter this week, according to a report.
Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand relayed news of Steele’s apology and ESPN’s disciplinary measures against her, in a series of Tuesday morning tweets.
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
Steele ignited a firestorm of liberal backlash on Monday after video surfaced of a recent appearance she made on Jay Cutler’s podcast, Uncut with Jay Cutler.
As Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston reports:
Appearing on the latest Uncut with Jay Cutler podcast, Steele was asked what race she identifies with the most. During her answer, Steele, who is of black and Irish/Italian descent, said that she’d choose both black and white if she were choosing her race on the U.S. Census form.
However, Steele also took a shot at Barack Obama as she answered the question about the race she most favors.
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
Steele also said that she felt women need to take a measure of responsibility for the clothes they wear and the reaction they might receive from men.
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
Both takes were received poorly from leftists who blasted Steele on Twitter.
Sage Steele is EXACTLY who we thought she was !!!!! https://t.co/6Ln62DouEm
— Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) October 3, 2021
Le Sigh. My Dad wasn’t around when I was younger. I’m still Black. 🏾♀️
— Cari Champion (@CariChampion) October 3, 2021
Also um… what..??? https://t.co/uNpt71iVvp
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) October 4, 2021
ESPN did not specify which one of Steele’s comments prompted her apparent suspension, or if it was both. Nor did ESPN explain how they expect to “embrace different points of view” while demanding that those views conform to their “values.” The Disney-owned sports network could have also decided to drop the hammer on Steele due to her other headline-grabbing comments.
Steele also told Cutler that she felt Disney’s vaccine mandate was “sick” and “scary.”
“I work for a company that mandates it and I had until September 30th to get it done or I’m out,” Steele told Cutler.
“I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is sick and it’s scary to me in many ways,” Steele added. “I just, I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, I mean a global company like that.”
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