ESPN reportedly suspended sports anchor Sage Steele following her comments about the company’s vaccine mandate being “sick” and former President Barack Obama’s identity.
A source shared that Steele, who is the co-anchor of “SportsCenter” at noon, will be out for at least a week, Front Office Sports.com reported in a piece published Tuesday. The outlet also noted that she would not be the host of the 2021 “espnW: Women + Sports Summit,” which takes place Oct 18-20.
“At ESPN, we embrace different points of view — dialogue and discussion makes this place great,” ESPN shared in a statement to The Hill. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
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
“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,” it added. (RELATED: ‘I Would Start With — I Had COVID’: NBA Player Responds To Reporter Asking Why He Doesn’t Want To Get Vaccinated)
During Steele’s recent appearance on “The Uncut with Jay Cutler” podcast, the sportscaster said the vaccine mandate from the Disney company, which owns ESPN, is “sick and scary,” Mediaite.com noted.
“I respect everyone’s decision. I really do,” the sports network star shared. “But to mandate it is sick, and it’s scary to me in many ways. But I have a job. A job that I love, and frankly, a job that I need, but again I love it.”
The woke mob wants to cancel ESPN star @SageSteele because she said the company’s vaccine mandate was “scary” to her “in many ways.”@dhookstead would like to remind people this is America, and it’s still okay to ask questions, question authority and think differently. pic.twitter.com/xXyLnYxPns
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 30, 2021
“I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney,” she added. “I mean, a global company like that … but it was actually emotional.”
At one point in the show, she also talked about Obama selecting “black” on the census when his “Black dad” was “nowhere to be found,” the report noted.
“Well, congratulations to the President,” Steele shared. “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.”
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) October 5, 2021
ESPN has since posted Steele’s apology on Twitter in which she apologized after her “recent comments created controversy for the company.”
“We are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts us all and it’s more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully,” her statement added.
The source also told FrontOffice the anchor had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days. Steele has been with the company for 15 years.