Beautiful Sage Steele from ESPN will no longer be on the air after comments she made about the COVID vaccine mandate and former President Barack Obama.
NPR reported today:
Sports anchor Sage Steele is off the air at ESPN after she called vaccine mandates “sick” and “scary” and questioned why former President Barack Obama identifies as Black even though he was raised by his white mother.
Steele made the comments last week on the podcast Uncut with Jay Cutler, and her removal from the air was reported by Front Office Sports.
In a statement, the network said: “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. We are having direct conversations with Sage and those conversations will remain private.”
ESPN also shared a statement from Steele. “I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” she said. “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.”
A week ago on the podcast, Steele told Cutler, a former NFL quarterback, that she had just gotten her COVID-19 vaccine after being required to by Disney, which owns ESPN.
“I respect everyone’s decision. I really do. But to mandate it is sick, and it’s scary to me in many ways,” she said. “But I have a job, a job that I love and, frankly, a job that I need.”