Longtime ESPN host Sage Steele announced Tuesday she is leaving the network after settling a lawsuit in which she accused ESPN and Disney of violating her First Amendment rights.
Steele filed the lawsuit against the network and its parent company last year, alleging she lost assignments after she made critical comments about the company’s coronavirus vaccine policies and former president Barack Obama’s racial identity.
“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,” Steele wrote on Twitter, now known as X. “I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!”
Life update.
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!#SteeleStrong
In a statement, ESPN said: “ESPN and Sage Steele have mutually agreed to part ways. We thank her for her many contributions over the years.”
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Steele has been a prominent host and on-air presence at ESPN since 2007. She hosted “SportsCenter” and golf, among other assignments.
In the fall of 2021, Steele appeared on the show of former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler and called Disney’s vaccine mandate “sick” and “scary.” She also contrasted her own racial identity, which she said was biracial, with Obama identifying as Black.
“I think that’s fascinating considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found but his White mom and grandma raised him,” she said. “But, hey, you do you. I’m going to do me.”
She alleged that ESPN disciplined her for those comments, which violated her right to free speech, and argued the company selectively enforced guidelines on political and social commentary. Connecticut, where ESPN is based, has a quirk in its laws that extends the freedom of speech to private companies, which legal observers noted helped Steele’s case.
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ESPN, in court filings, said Steele could not demonstrate she was punished because her pay was never docked. ESPN also suggested it is not legally responsible for how co-workers and others responded to Steele’s comments and that the company has its own right to expression that includes whom it puts on the air.
Steele, 50, continued to appear on ESPN as the case was litigated. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
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