Sage Steele, ESPN speak out after anchor’s podcast comments ‘create controversy’
ESPN and Sage Steele broke their silence regarding the veteran anchor’s recent comments regarding former President Barack Obama, race and even about how young women starting out in the sports industry shouldn’t “play coy and put it all on the guys” when receiving lewd comments about the way they dress.
Steele was a guest on a Sept. 29 episode of the podcast “Uncut with Jay Cutler” and spoke candidly about how she questioned Obama selecting “African-American” when completing his 2010 Census questionnaire, noting that he was raised by his white mother and his Black father was “nowhere to be found.”
“I’m like, ‘Well, congratulations to the president. 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.”
Steele herself identifies as “biracial” and has criticized players in the past for standing up for social justice issues, Yahoo Sports reported.
In addition, Steele criticized ESPN’s vaccine mandate, saying, “I work for a company that mandates it and I had until September 30th to get it done or I’m out,” Steele told Cutler. “I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is sick and it’s scary to me in many ways.”
She also made appalling comments about a younger generation of women breaking into the sports world:
“So when you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on, too,” Steele said. “Like, women are smart, so don’t play coy and put it all on the guys.”
ESPN release a statement on Tuesday regarding Steele’s comments, saying that they were having “direct conversations” with the anchor and that “those conversations will remain private.”
Steele also publicly apologized after receiving backlash.
“I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” the anchor said in a statement. “We are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts all of us, and it’s more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully.”
Steele received criticism from former ESPN co-worker Jemele Hill, who left ESPN in 2018 after criticizing then President Donald Trump, calling him a “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists,” The Washington Post reported.
Hill referred to Steele’s comments on Obama and young aspiring female sports journalists as “clown behavior.”
Steele has been with ESPN since 2007.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Sage Steele, ESPN speak out after anchor’s podcast comments ‘create controversy’."