ESPN reporter and anchor Sage Steele temporarily suspended after controversial remarks

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Reporter and on-air personality Sage Steele filed a lawsuit against ESPN after she was suspended for controversial comments concerning the COVID-19 vaccine, former president Barack Obama, and women in sports media. In her lawsuit, filed in the Connecticut Superior Court, Steele contended her right to Free Speech had been violated.

Key Players

Sage Steele has been a reporter and on-camera anchor for ESPN since 2007. Steele, who identifies as biracial, signed on as an anchor for the network’s flagship program “SportsCenter,” but has gradually been awarded additional duties, such as on-site coverage of major events (including the World Series, Super Bowl, and NBA Finals) and on-air appearances on other major ESPN programs. 

ESPN is an American multinational sports media company headquartered in Bristol, Connecticut. Part of the Disney corporate family, the network brands itself as “the worldwide leader in sports.”

Further Details

On Sept. 29, 2021, Steele appeared on the podcast “Uncut with Jay Cutler,” hosted by Cutler, a former NFL quarterback.

On the podcast, Steele, who had recently tested positive for COVID-19, denounced her employer for its vaccine policy, saying, “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 she had been vaccinated, but implied it was only to stay employed, saying, “But I have a job, a job that I love and, frankly, a job that I need.”

NBC News reported that Steele supported wearing masks but felt vaccine mandates were a step too far, quoting her saying, “It’s one thing with masks, and I don’t have a problem with that. It’s another thing when you force this.” 

Steele also made highly controversial comments concerning Obama’s racial background. NPR reported she questioned why Obama identifies as Black, “considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found but his white mom and grandma raised him.” 

Further, Steele placed responsibility for sexual harassment and inappropriate comments in the workplace on women, with NBC News reporting that Steele asserted, “We need to be responsible as women, too.” Referring to workplace attire, Steele said, “When you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you put that outfit on, too.” 

Backlash was swift as Steele’s comments became more widely publicized. 

Omekongo Dibinga, a professor at American University, tweeted that Steele’s comments on Obama were highly insensitive, writing that one’s racial identity is not determined by how close someone is with his or her parents. Media personality Roland Martin concurred in a tweet, condemning Steele’s remarks as “beyond idiotic.”

The condemnation of Steele’s remarks was nearly universal. Cutler weighed in, however, tweeting that Steele’s suspension was “ridiculous” and he would also be taking a week off, apparently in solidarity with Steele.

ESPN released a statement acknowledging the inherent value in a variety of opinions, but reproached Steele for not expressing her views professionally and respectfully. Steele also released a public apology, endorsing the value of constructive dialogue. 

ESPN responded to Steele’s comments by pulling her from the air as of Oct. 5, 2021. 

According to CTV News, the suspension encompassed the remainder of the week after Oct. 5. CTV News also reported that ESPN had removed Steele as moderator of an Oct. 18 ESPN-led summit covering women in the world of sports.

Outcome

Steele files lawsuit against ESPN, citing her free speech rights

On April 28, 2022, NPR reported that Steele filed a lawsuit against ESPN for retaliation, alleging her suspension violated her right to Free Speech. 

NPR quoted Steele’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, as saying “Steele was punished for speaking her truth in violation of freedom of speech protections under Connecticut law and the U.S. constitution.” Freedman also alleged that ESPN leadership “violated her free speech rights, retaliated against her, reprimanded her, scapegoated her, allowed the media and her peers to excoriate her and forced her to apologize simply because her personal opinions did not align with Disney’s corporate philosophy of the moment.”

A statement released by ESPN denied any unfair treatment, claiming that “Sage remains a valued contributor on some of ESPN’s highest profile content, including the recent Masters telecasts and anchoring our noon SportsCenter. As a point of fact, she was never suspended.”

Sports Illustrated added that in the suit, Steele alleged that coworkers singled her out for her comments. She alleged that Ryan Clark, a football analyst and former NFL player, refused to appear on a segment she was anchoring, and skipped its filming. She also alleged that ESPN did not discipline Clark for his absence. 

USA Today reported that the lawsuit was filed in the Connecticut Superior Court. As of June 13, 2022, there were no further updates. 

ESPN files motion to dismiss lawsuit, Steele’s legal team responds

On June 16, 2022, ESPN moved to dismiss Steele’s lawsuit, The Washington Post reported. The organization argued that Steele’s pay was never docked, meaning there was no concrete punishment Steele could cite as a grievance. 

ESPN asserted that the reactions of Steele’s coworkers are not the responsibility of the company, and that ESPN reserved the right to express itself freely in who it chose to display on its public programs. The motion also noted that Steele’s removal from covering an October 2021 summit, as well as appearing at a fundraiser for cancer research, came at the request of event organizers, not ESPN leadership. 

ESPN noted that the terms of Steele’s contract only required the network to pay Steele’s salary and facilitate the agreed benefits, but did not guarantee any set amount of airtime, according to Sportico.

Freedman released a statement accusing ESPN of “continuing to denigrate talent disregarding not only their first amendment rights but also employee privacy,” while predicting the motion would be dismissed. 

Steele still appears on-air. According to The Post, remains ESPN’s highest-paid female employee with an annual salary of approximately $3 million. As of July 5, 2022, there were no further developments.