Sage Steele’s slow-motion attempt to get fired from ESPN hit a tiny speed bump Tuesday, when she gave a limp apology for her recent appearance on a divorced quarterback’s podcast.
“I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” the SportsCenter anchor said in a statement Tuesday morning. But it was unclear exactly which comments the apology referenced, as she has supplied so very many candidates.
The first to get attention was her whining about ESPN’s mandate that all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of September. (Steele recently got the shot, but is off the air as she reportedly contracted the virus. It’s unclear if her absence from ESPN’s airwaves and events is disciplinary; she’ll be back hosting SportsCenter next week, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.)
“I work for a company that mandates it and I had until September 30th to get it done or I’m out,” Steele said on Jay Cutler’s podcast last week. “I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is sick and it’s scary to me in many ways.”
That was perhaps the least offensive thing Steele said on the podcast, which may have landed her in hot water with her employer. (Steele is a conservative who has bucked against the broadly liberal public face of ESPN for years.)
In a conversation about her one Black parent and one white parent, Steele questioned Barack Obama’s Blackness. “I’m like, ‘Well, congratulations to the president. That’s his thing,’ ” she said about the former president selecting “African American” on the Census. “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.”
Steele also suggested that her numerous media colleagues who have been sexually harassed by sports figures were on some level asking for it. “So when you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments,” she said to Cutler. “But you know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on, too. Like, women are smart, so don’t play coy and put it all on the guys.”
ESPN was finally compelled to put out a statement on Steele Tuesday morning, as the podcast gained more traction.
“At ESPN, we embrace different points of view,” the broadcaster said. “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.” It’s not clear what points of view were disrespectful, or what policies Steele violated, if any, or if Steele is currently suspended. ESPN would not comment beyond its statement.
