Sage Steele Blasts ESPN For Silencing Her: ‘The Opposite Of Equity, Tolerance, Inclusion’

 Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele slammed her former employer in interviews this week after exiting the company over how they silenced her for giving her opinions while allowing her colleagues to speak on controversial political issues.

Steele was sidelined by the left-wing organization in 2021 when she spoke out about how she had to get a COVID vaccine to keep her job.

“I wasn’t the only one who felt silenced, who felt scared,” Steele said. “I mean, some of us would literally whisper in the corner or even in the bathroom and talk about, hey, we can’t say this too loud.”

“It’s insane, and it’s the opposite of what people preach with equity and tolerance and inclusion and acceptance and all those words that everybody throws around, especially in corporate America, but when it’s actually time to live it? That was my issue,” she added.

Steele said in a separate interview that the entire ordeal turned into a big controversy “because most importantly, I complied.”

“You know, and I can have an opinion about things, especially if I’m complying with the rules to get the shot that I did not want to get, adamantly did not want to get,” she said. “At the end of the day, it was just about consistency, and lack of, and if my peers are allowed to go on our network and on many platforms on ESPN airwaves — versus me on a day off on a separate podcast — and give their opinions about things that truly are political, Roe vs. Wade, and so many things, and then I can’t talk about my experiences as a biracial woman or for not wanting to get a shot [inaudible] getting to keep my job.”

She said that what she needed from ESPN was “consistency,” something that every parent knows is crucial.

“I’m a parent of three kids. And I know how important that is even if you don’t like the rules,” she said. “If it’s consistent, then you know, it’s clear. And I think that’s what makes me the most sad because it didn’t, it didn’t have to be this way. But I kind of tried to stop asking why. Like, okay, here we are now. And now maybe by doing this, more people can, can more employers can just be a little more careful and more consistent.”

 

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