ESPN may have a brand new job opening after releasing on-air television host Sage Steele for a plethora of racially-tinged remarks and overall dumb comments.
Entertainment
Sage Steele may be best known in the sports world for co-hosting the popular 12pm SportsCenter on ESPN, but her impressive resume also includes hosting stints with SportsCenter on the Road (from various sporting events including the Super Bowl and The Masters), as well as NBA Countdown on ESPN and ABC for 4 seasons. However, the seasoned television personality finds herself off the air today after appearing on the podcast Uncut with Jay Cutler and unleashing a series of seemingly pent-up remarks regarding former President Barack Obama, the ESPN vaccine mandate, and more.
Less than a week after calling the ESPN vaccine mandate for employees “sick” and “scary” and alluding to only getting vaccinated because her employer forced her to get a shot she never would have gotten on her own, Sage Steele was back to inserting her foot deep into her own mouth and ruining a storied television career.
During the podcast, the biracial Steele announced that she found it “fascinating” how Mr. Obama identifies as Black, especially since he was raised by a white mother and grandmother. She was particularly perplexed by him selecting “Black” on the census form because he grew up not even knowing his Kenyan father.
“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 told Cutler.
“If they make you choose a race, what are you gonna put? Well, both,” Steele said of her own African-American and Italian/Irish ancestry. “[But] Barack Obama chose Black and he’s biracial…”
It was also revealed that Steele once congratulated former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay for not selecting a Black man as her love interest of choice on the hit television series The Bachelorette.
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Y’all want to hear about the first time I met #SageSteele? #TrueStory 😅😅😅 pic.twitter.com/pf6VE1fn81
— Rachel Lindsay (@TheRachLindsay) October 6, 2021
“I like Sage. She’s a woman of color who had a long career in the media and I’m aspiring to this but then I’m listening to you and the first thing you say to me is how thrilled you are that I didn’t choose Black. And I’m like… who is this woman?” Lindsay said during the podcast.
“Since then I’ve started to learn more about how problematic she can be,” Lindsay added.
Well, leave it to Black Twitter to do what it does best, as African-Americans from everywhere took to social media to drag Sage Steele through the wringer.
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So on top of thinking former President Obama shouldn’t identify as black because he didn’t have a relationship with his black father, Sage Steele also thinks female journalists who dress a certain way “know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on.”
Clown behavior. pic.twitter.com/edgTVopQqg
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 3, 2021
“So on top of thinking former President Obama shouldn’t identify as black because he didn’t have a relationship with his black father, Sage Steele also thinks female journalists who dress a certain way “know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on.” Clown behavior,” Jemele Hill tweeted.
“So does she put “white” on her census form?” asked another Twitter user.
The Sage Steele social media knockout was so swift that had it been a boxing match, the referees would have stopped it.
Realizing well past the 11th hour that she had done major damage to herself, her career, and her reputation, the biracial television host offered up a far-too-late apology.
“I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” Steele 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.”
For its part, ESPN also made a statement of its own:
“At ESPN, we embrace different points of view – dialogue and discussion makes this place great. That said, we expect that those points of view be expressed respectfully, in a manner consistent with our values, and in line with our internal policies. We are having direct conversations with Sage and those conversations will remain private.”
So, here’s a bit of advice for Sage Steele:
AP:
ESPN has removed “SportsCenter” anchor Sage Steele from the air for a week after she made incendiary remarks about the vaccine and former President Barack Obama, according to reports.
The longtime sports network personality also contracted COVID-19, sources told the business journal Front Office Sports. “But her not appearing on air goes beyond her diagnosis,” the business journal wrote. “Both ESPN and Steele thought it was appropriate for her to take some time off.”
Steele has also been removed as moderator of the “espnW: Women + Sports Summit” event in mid-October, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“At ESPN, we embrace different points of view — dialogue and discussion makes this place great,” ESPN said in a statement published by The Hill. “That said, we expect that those points of view be expressed respectfully, in a manner consistent with our values, and in line with our internal policies.”
ESPN did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Steele also issued a mea culpa through the sports network: “I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize.”
In a controversial podcast with former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler last week, Steele called the vaccine mandate of ESPN and parent company Disney “sick” and “scary” but said she got inoculated that day to keep her job. She also criticized Obama for apparently marking that he was Black on the census. “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,” she said.
Steele, who said she wanted to indicate that she was biracial on the census, added: “Listen, I’m pretty sure my white mom was there when I was born. And my white family loves me as much as my Black family.”
She also suggested that female journalists invite harassment by dressing provocatively.
What in the actual h-e-double-l was this lady thinking? Come to think of it she was not thinking at all. She got that Indiana in her I know a lot about plus she think she’s white. I am so glad Black twitter took her down. They need to keep her behind off the air.
DJ, thank you for posting about this!
I cannot believe I missed commenting on this earlier this morning BEFORE my day got so incredibly busy (sigh)!
When I saw this story 2 days ago I darn near fell out my chair. This silly woman has said some Clownish isht in the past but this time she truly outdid herself!
There’s stuck-on-stupid. And there’s “Next level” stupid. Suffice it say she’s reached “Next-level” Stupid. The chick’s got “issues” and really needs to get some professional “help” to address them.
And yes, she should probably lose her job!
Re: “And yes, she should probably lose her job!”
I had come back and amend my comment. I think it was a bit too harsh.
But she certainly should be suspended for longer than a week.
And ummm – mayhaps someone should tell Sage……
Yes, she’s “biracial” but she DOESN’T LOOK biracial.
She looks like a light brown skin Black woman.