The truth of the matter is no one really likes Sage Steele.
Her white husband didn’t like her that much so he divorced her. Her co-workers don’t like her at all. The only people who like her also happened to be the people who like to Make America Great AGAIN.
The type of people who wish America was more like 1962 (lowkey 1862) than 2022. ESPN has smoothly been demoting her for years, not so much because of her awful takes but because no one really enjoys seeing her on TV.
She took a massive pay cut to stay with the network, and it is obvious her days or numbered after she filed a lawsuit against the network.
ESPN anchor Sage Steele sued the network and its parent, Walt Disney Co. DIS, alleging the company retaliated against her for comments she made in a podcast interview, breaching her contract and violating her free-speech rights.
In comments last September on a podcast hosted by former National Football League quarterback Jay Cutler, Ms. Steele touched on political and social topics, questioning Covid-19 vaccine mandates and former President Barack Obama’s decision to identify as Black instead of biracial.
After Ms. Steele’s remarks drew criticism in the press and on social media, ESPN forced her to issue an apology and temporarily benched her, according to the suit, which was served in Connecticut, where the network is based.
ESPN also retaliated by taking away prime assignments and failing to stop bullying and harassment by Ms. Steele’s colleagues, the suit alleges.
In a statement, ESPN said, “Sage remains a valued contributor on some of ESPN’s highest profile content, including the recent Masters telecasts and anchoring our noon SportsCenter.”
This isn’t the first time Ms. Steele has clashed with her superiors and colleagues. In 2020 she complained to ESPN management that she believed she was excluded from a special on race because some of her Black colleagues didn’t view her as an authentic voice for the Black community.
I find that last paragraph to be hilarious because it is so true, and she is so oblivious to it.
Disney is a private company that makes its own rules. She is obviously looking for a settlement of some sort, probably because her husband took a lot of the money in the divorce.
Steele in the past has said black people are the real racist ones.
We — as people of color — continue to cry for racial equality, diversity and acceptance, and rightfully so. That said, why must we continue to tear down those within our own race? Why must we shun those within our own race who think differently? Or marry outside of our race? Or vote differently? Or have “good hair”? Or speak differently? Shouldn’t we instead be offering up praise for our wonderful diversity?
My mother is a perfect example. Raised by an Irish father and an Italian mother in a small Massachusetts town, she went against her parents’ wishes and married the black man she fell in love with. What she dealt with fresh off of the tumultuous civil rights era was horrific in so many ways — which is one of many reasons why she is the strongest, bravest woman I know. So, instead of rolling your eyes at my black father for “selling out”, shouldn’t you be praising my white mother for following her color-blind heart and not succumbing to the pressures of American society back then? Apparently not. How about now, more than 4 decades later? Instead of giving me those all-knowing looks of disgust and calling me a sell-out when you see pictures of me with my white husband, or see me with my very light-skinned bi-racial children, shouldn’t you be praising that “white boy” from Indiana who followed his color-blind heart and married into a bi-racial culture completely different from his own, to help create a beautiful, color-blind family? Apparently not. Sadly, the list goes on and on, seeping into just about every social and political issue.
Someone call Dr. Umar.
Flip the pages for all the suspect things she has said over the years.