‘One Brave Woman’: Former Anchor Sage Steele Praised for Calling Out ‘Hypocrisy’ at Disney, ESPN

Now former ESPN anchor Sage Steele came in for praise as a “brave woman” for speaking out against the “hypocrisy” and violations of her right to free speech she suffered at the hands of the cable sports network’s bosses and its owner, Disney.

Steele settled a lawsuit against ESPN early in August and then announced she was leaving her job there after 16 years at the network.

“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely. I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!” she tweeted on Aug. 15.

Steele was suspended in 2021 for her criticism of the coronavirus vaccine. She was also chastised for talking about Barack Obama’s lineage and for criticizing how women dress in today’s society on a podcast with former NFL player Jay Cutler.

After being suspended for exercising her freedom of speech, Steele sued Disney and ESPN in 2022. She accused her bosses of taking away high-profile assignments, violating her right to free speech, and breach of contract.

According to reporter A.J. Perez, ESPN offered Steele a $501,000 payout to settle the lawsuit.

In the wake of her settled lawsuit, Steele earned high praise from free speech advocate and former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom and former NCAA swimming champion and women’s rights activist Riley Gaines.

“She’s fearless. She’s amazing at what she’s doing, and she’s one brave woman, and I applaud and am proud of her work that’s trying to hold people and companies accountable,” Kanter Freedom said Sunday on Fox & Friends Weekend, Fox News reported.

“You cannot really say how you feel or what you want to say, or you will get canceled. So that’s why it’s so hard for athletes to come out and say something because they know what you’re going to get,” Freedom added.

Freedom also called Steele a “role model.”

For her part, Riley Gains said that strong women like Steele help her to “keep going” in the face of criticism.

“There are so very few people, whether that’s in sports, in academia, in corporate America, in the medical profession, even in the church, there are so very few people willing to stand for what is right, but Sage is one of those. She’s someone who I go to for advice. She’s someone who inspires me to keep going. We need more people like Sage,” Gaines said.

“And if I was a woman working at ESPN, especially in light of how they’ve approached this women’s sports issue, I’d walk out,” she added.

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