ESPN has suspended Sage Steele after her now-viral comments made on a podcast about Barack Obama and his father, and ESPN’s vaccine mandate.
Read below via Yahoo:
Steele, who is black, has been with ESPN for almost 15 years. She lost her spot as host of the espnW: Women + Sports Summit and will not appear in her normal SportsCenter slot for a week, according to a source.
Steele discussed sports journalism, sexism, and COVID-19 on Jay Cutler‘s podcast Uncut with Jay Cutler.
She criticized Obama for selecting “black” as his ethnicity on the census.
“I’m like, ‘Well, congratulations to the president. That’s his thing.’ I think that’s fascinating considering his black dad was nowhere to be found, but his white mom and grandma raised him, but hey, you do you. I’m going to do me,” she said.
Steele took offense to ESPN’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it “sick” and saying she only received the vaccine out of fear of losing her job.
“I respect everyone’s decision. I really do. But to mandate it is sick, and it’s scary to me in many ways,” Steele said. “I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney. I mean, a global company like that.”
She commented on sexism in journalism, saying that women “know what [they’re] doing” when they wear certain clothes.
“So when you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on, too,” Steele said. “Like, women are smart, so don’t play coy and put it all on the guys.”
The network released a statement addressing Steele’s comments.
Steele discussed sports journalism, sexism, and COVID-19 on Jay Cutler‘s podcast Uncut with Jay Cutler.
She criticized Obama for selecting “black” as his ethnicity on the census.
“I’m like, ‘Well, congratulations to the president. That’s his thing.’ I think that’s fascinating considering his black dad was nowhere to be found, but his white mom and grandma raised him, but hey, you do you. I’m going to do me,” she said.
Steele took offense to ESPN’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it “sick” and saying she only received the vaccine out of fear of losing her job.
“I respect everyone’s decision. I really do. But to mandate it is sick, and it’s scary to me in many ways,” Steele said. “I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney. I mean, a global company like that.”
She commented on sexism in journalism, saying that women “know what [they’re] doing” when they wear certain clothes.
“So when you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on, too,” Steele said. “Like, women are smart, so don’t play coy and put it all on the guys.”
The network released a statement addressing Steele’s comments.
“At ESPN, we embrace different points of view — dialogue and discussion makes this place great,” said the company. “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.”
Steele apologized for her remarks in a statement.
“I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” Steele 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.”
ESPN's Sage Steele apologizes for recent comments. ESPN said its' having 'direct conversations' with Steele, who's been ripped publicly by Jemele Hill, Keith Olbermann and others. pic.twitter.com/9gQuQHvjoI
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) October 5, 2021
Her comments caused quite the frenzy on Twitter:
It’s worse when you hear it. https://t.co/0eYVd86Ifj
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 4, 2021
and
So #SageSteele knows what #Obama put on his census? I swear that woman puts the half-wit in half-white! #TeamDl
— DL Hughley (@RealDLHughley) October 4, 2021
and
The same #SageSteele that let that man pet her hair on tv pic.twitter.com/kqwED7wbRa
— trel thee clydesdale (@trelbythepound) October 4, 2021
and
so, by this "logic" a black child adopted by a white family is now considered white??? foh you self loathing twat! ?♀️ #SageSteele https://t.co/Li541Bl2p7
— michele smith (@shelthebelle) October 3, 2021
and
Everyone is upset because this woman @sagesteele has made it clear that she hates #black people. And doesn't identify as black. Why are you surprised family. #sagesteele #racist #BlackTwitter pic.twitter.com/7MMptXzJiz
— Brandon Christian (@christianusnavy) October 5, 2021
Comment your thoughts below.
