Sage Steele Sues ESPN For Violating Her Free Speech Rights

BYAlexander Cole3.4K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Bullseye Event Group
Sage Steele
Sage Steele says she lost assignments due to her comments about COVID and Barack Obama.

Sage Steele has become a controversial figure on ESPN as of late. The SportsCenter anchor is one of the few personalities on the network with conservative views, and some of her comments have gotten her into a bit of hot water. For instance, she once made some comments about vaccine mandates that had some people scratching their heads. From there, she had some abhorrent comments about President Barack Obama's race which had some people up in arms. 

“Congratulations to the President. That’s his thing,” she said. “I think that’s fascinating considering his Black dad is nowhere to be found, but his white mom and grandma raised him, but OK. You do you. I’m gonna do me.”

Sage Steele Sues ESPN For Violating Her Free Speech Rights
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

After making those comments, Steele was off from SportsCenter for a week and she was also given fewer assignments than before. As a result, she is now suing ESPN, claiming they violated her contract and free speech rights, according to Deadline.

According to the report, the lawsuit says ESPN “violated Connecticut law and Steele’s rights to free speech based upon a faulty understanding of her comments and a nonexistent, unenforced workplace policy that serves as nothing more than pretext."

Sage Steele Sues ESPN For Violating Her Free Speech Rights
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Cisco Systems, Inc.

ESPN has commented on the lawsuit saying “Sage remains a valued contributor on some of ESPN’s highest profile content, including the recent Masters telecasts and anchoring our noon SportsCenter. As a point of fact, she was never suspended.”

Stay tuned to HNHH for updates on this story.

[Via]


About The Author
Alexander Cole is the current editor-in-chief of HotNewHipHop. He started at HotNewHipHop back in 2018 where he began as a Sports and Sneakers writer. It was here where he began to hone his craft, putting his journalism degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, to good use. Since that time, he has documented some of the biggest stories in the hip-hop world. From the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef to the disturbing allegations against Diddy, Alex has helped HotNewHipHop navigate large-scale stories as they happen. In 2021, he went to the Bahamas for the Big 3's Championship Game. It was here where he got to interview legendary figures like Ice Cube, Clyde Drexler, and Stephen Jackson. He has also interviewed other superstar athletes such as Antonio Brown, Damian Lillard, and Paul Pierce. This is in addition to conversations with social media provocateurs like Jake Paul, and younger respected artists like Kaycyy, Lil Tecca, and Jeleel!
...