On Tuesday, Sage Steele, who had been a longtime anchor for ESPN SportsCenter, revealed that she was leaving the network due to a recent settlement of a lawsuit. Steele had sued ESPN's parent company, Disney, for retaliaton, claiming she was protected under the First Amendment when she discussed Covid vaccinations and other political and social matters during a podcast while off-duty. She maintained that she had done nothing wrong since she was not speaking as an ESPN employee but rather as a private citizen.
Sage Steele and ESPN have agreed to go their separate ways. Steele announced on X (previously known as Twitter) that she had reached a settlement with the network in a lawsuit she filed in 2022, accusing ESPN of retaliation for comments she made in a podcast. Steele wrote on X, "Having settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I now leave to be able to more freely exercise my First Amendment rights." She thanked ESPN for her 16 years with them and expressed joy for her next chapter. According to the lawsuit, Steele claimed her free speech and contract rights were violated when ESPN "sidelined" her after she spoke on the podcast. An ESPN spokesperson confirmed Steele's departure, thanking her for her contributions. During the podcast interview, Steele made several comments including expressing her opinion of ESPN requiring Covid vaccinations, implying prejudice in President Obama's identification as biracial, and that women need to be responsible for sexism in the workplace from provocative clothing. Soon after, Steele apologized, however she alleged in the suit that media coverage caused ESPN to suspend her and force a public apology. Steele maintained she should have been protected by her First Amendment rights as the comments were made in her private capacity on a day off.
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