Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele outlined how she was treated differently at the network than other anchors, based on politics.
Steele admitted to Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show that she was “heartbroken” to be suspended from upcoming events. Kelly introduced Steele with a compilation of other ESPN anchors making political statements on air. In contrast, Steele was suspended for her comments on Barack Obama’s biracial ethnicity and the network’s vaccine mandate on a separate podcast.
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“I think that’s just what breaks my heart is that there were different rules for me than everyone else,” Steele said. “When I lost the Rose Parade, which just was a big deal, it was on ABC, and it was — it’s iconic, and it’s special, I just didn’t know what I was gonna do with that. I knew that mentally I had checked out and was heartbroken again at the hypocrisy of the rules. Either the rule’s a rule for everybody or nobody. But you can’t pick and choose, but especially if it’s just one person — it’s just me”
The anchor of 16 years would go on to apologize for her comments only after “fighting” with the network. She briefly resumed work until she left in August to exercise her “first amendment rights more freely.”
Before she left, Steele filed a lawsuit against the company for compensatory damages since she alleged ESPN breached her contract. In June, Steele was offered $501,000, as well as money to cover “reasonable” attorney fees to settle her lawsuit, according to Front Office Sports.
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ESPN+ will increase its monthly price by a dollar after the company announced it would attempt a “cost savings” measure by laying off a number of commentators.
The network risks some distancing from its parent company Disney as CEO Bob Iger suggested a joint venture with another partner or offloading its ownership stake. Disney still has plans to launch an ESPN streaming service, however.
