Sports commentator Sage Steele appeared on Riley Gaines’ podcast recently and discussed how she was muzzled by the network regarding ‘certain’ social issues
Sage Steele drew a lot of attention during her time at ESPN for not being afraid to go off-script from what the network’s agenda was. She was often criticized for some of her social and political stances. In a recent appearance on Railey Gaines’ podcast, Gaines for Girls, Steele revealed that she was given some direct instruction when it came to the topic of trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
A Fearless And Controversial Figure At ESPN
Sage Steele was both a popular and polarizing personality during her time at The Worldwide Leader in Sports. One topic that really bristled folks at the network was transgender NCAA Swimmer Lia Thomas. Any negative commentary on the biological male swimmer was frowned upon.
Steele was a supporter of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who openly complained that it was unfair to compete against a genetically-born male competitor. Thomas actually defeated Gaines to capture the NCAA 500-m Freestyle National Championship, becoming the first openly trans athlete to do so.
Steele said ESPN regarded the topic as untouchable – at least, by someone who shared the same opinions as Gaines.
“I was asked to stop tweeting about it.” Sage Steele told Gaines. “I was asked to stop doing anything, saying anything about it on social media because I was offending others at the company. I made sure I sent off another tweet that night after I received that email because, like, no, let’s stop living in this lie.”
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Steele Makes Her Case
“And once again, you’re going to silence me and Sam [Ponder] – she was told the same thing – for this issue? But we’re going to let everybody else talk about all these other things that are not even related to sports on our sports programming?” Steele continued.
“And I’m like, no, no, no, no, no. We’re going to preach on ESPNW and all these things, and I’m going to stand up for all these women, many of whom are afraid to do what Riley Gaines is doing, to do what I’m doing.”
“I actually said this to myself as I was sending a tweet, the first tweet about standing up and supporting you,” Sage Steele continued. “I literally said, ‘This is a hill I will die on, 100%,’ because it is facts. This is not even my opinion on a vaccine mandate or whatever. These are facts. This is science; this is biology. This is all of those things. Come at me… tell me I’m wrong. Tell me to stop supporting women.”
“And the thing is, I’ve been asking for months to talk about this story on our show. We had two hours live every day and we never, ever, ever did it. That was disappointing because we did a lot of things incredibly well, especially on the show I was on.”
“We were awesome,” Sage Steele concluded. “But when I saw it air, I was just heartbroken, especially as someone, I mean, for the last … from 2010 through 2021, I was kind of the face of ESPNW, our women’s summit. It was women in sport.”
Sage Steele was never shy about political and social topics during her tenure with ESPN – which ended in August 2023 after she sued the company. Prior to that, she had received criticism and even professional discipline for comments not only about Lia Thmas, but former President Barack Obama, and the COVID vaccine.
The 51-year-old broadcaster has moved on since but has not made clear where her next television destination will be.
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