ESPN anchor Sage Steele is off the air after her comments on vaccines and Obama

[Jilly_in_VA]

Sports anchor Sage Steele is off the air at ESPN after she called vaccine mandates "sick" and "scary" and questioned why former President Barack Obama identifies as Black even though he was raised by his white mother.

Steele made the comments last week on the podcast Uncut with Jay Cutler, and her removal from the air was reported by Front Office Sports.

In a statement, the network said: "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."

ESPN also shared a statement from Steele. "I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize," she said. "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."

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/06/1043680295/espn-sage-steele-vaccines-obama
_________________________________________________________________
Sadly, they'll probably let her back on after a suitable period in the penalty box. Otherwise she'll just go to Faux Noise.

[BeckyDem]

1. She is ignorant to say mandates are sick. We have madates for vaccines on polio etc.

She is entirely ignorant to suggest Obama picked the wrong race to identify with. Her comments on women's clothing and the response they receive for said choice is beyond the pale.

GOOD BYE, SO LONG.

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Ignorant on mandates

Plane old sick on Obama.

[BeckyDem]

7. Totally.

Good riddance.

[maxsolomon]

2. No doubt Ms. Steele is familiar with the "One-Drop" Rule

so it makes that "questioning" of Obama's identity even more offensive.

Here's a little more context, from The Cut:

Steele proceeded to move on to a discussion about filling out her Census form as a biracial person. After bringing up the fact that Barack Obama, who is also biracial, identifies as Black on his Census form, Steele added that she thinks it’s “fascinating, considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found, but his white mom and grandma raised him.”

https://www.thecut.com/2021/10/sage-steele-this-is-an-impressive-number-of-bad-opinions.html

Sports Broadcasting is chock full of idiots who run their mouths about shit they know is radioactive.

[Hekate]

3. What a bizarre series of comments, especially about President Obama...

Who was raised by an Indonesian stepfather, a white mama, and a white set of grandparents, in a state full of brown mixed-race Americans.

It was Mainland society that looked at him and saw a Black or African-American man. It was Mainland society where some wondered if he was “black enough.”

Sage sounds like a foolish and ignorant child. Her blather will no doubt be welcome at FOX.

[Hortensis]

4. I'd think openings for tokens on the nasty right would be limited.

Faux could match what ESPN'S paying, but what if they're already overly representative? Could Ammon Bundy's People's Rights network afford a salary? Oh, perhaps OAN could apply to AT&T for additional funding to take her on...?!

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Good!

She's nothing.
She doesn't move the needle at ESPN.
She's a former mediocre athlete who looks good on TV. She has the intellect of a lemon.
A small brain & a big mouth.

[Jilly_in_VA]

8. Mediocre athlete?

I don't even remember where she played anything, and I root for a pretty good mid-major (JMU, Go Dukes!)

[brush]

9. Most of the on-air commentators at ESPN and other sports...

networks are former college or at least high school athletes. I don't know about Steele. What sport, as very thin as she is, and TV puts on the pounds, would she have participated in I wonder?

And her comment about Pres. Obama is beyond ridiculous. He identifies as an African-American. Of course, he's as African-American as one can get as his father was African and his mother was American.

What else would he call himself?

[jcgoldie]

13. not an athlete

Graduated with a degree in sports communication because she was a big fan and her dad was a celebrated army football player.

Ironically her mom is listed as being of Irish and Italian descent which makes the comments about Obama's mother being white seem especially strange. I would guess either a MAGA fool or having grown up almost entirely on army bases in Europe made her unfamiliar with the racial dynamic back home whereby anyone of mixed African American descent pretty much is forced to identify as black. But she's 48 years old so I don't see how that 2nd explanation really holds up unless she's just an idiot.

[brush]

14. Thanks for the info on her not being a former athlete. She...

is however well known for her MAGA leanings which certainly comes through in her nonsensical comments.

She should be thanking ESPN for mandating her to get vaccinated instead of complaining about it.

[Jilly_in_VA]

18. Skinny athletes

would most likely be distance runners. Ever take a good look at some of them? Men or women, most of them haven't got an ounce of extra flesh anywhere. My sister-in-law is a runner, former amateur marathoner, rail-thin still at 72 and still does the odd 5K. When my son ran he ate like the proverbial horse and you could hardly see him when he turned sideways.

As for what Obama identifies as, I pointed out in another thread that it wouldn't matter how he identified himself, if he didn't, half the country would do it for him (the rest of us wouldn't care). I don't. I think he's right purty anyhow.

Some may remember the running joke when John Kerry was running for president...that if he won, we'd have the first African-American First Lady, since Teresa Heinz Kerry was born in Mozambique.

[brush]

19. I like the Heinz-Kerry info. You're right about long...

distance runners, but Steele is even thinner than most runners. Doesn't really matter. Her magat leaning do and are biting her in the behind now.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. She Was In Track In College

And, you don't remember her because she was........mediocre.
IIRC, she was a middle distance runner. But, the Olympics were something she planned on watching on TV like the rest of us.
I was a track athlete. Decent in the long jump. My Olympic aspirations were to avoid missing the track events on TV! Just like her.

[jalan48]

10. I wish Jemele Hill was still on ESPN. She was more than just a sports announcer, her social

commentary was much needed but too much for some I guess.

[brush]

15. Yes, Jamele Hill, IMO, wasn't fairly treated by the network.

And what happened to Michael Smith who used to be on-air with her. He's gone too.

[jalan48]

16. Jerry Jones and the rest of the right wingers were sooo upset about Kaepernick they couldn't

handle someone sticking up for him and explaining why he did what he did. I think they put pressure on the network.

[FrankBooth]

11. This is her Kim Kardashian sex tape moment

She's not going anywhere at ESPN, so she created an incident to draw attention to herself and soak up the publicity. Then she just has to give a half-hearted apology (check), and wait for the RW media gravy train to take notice and let the job offers roll in.

[DFW]

12. I have never heard of Sage (who sounds like anything but) Steele

Won’t someone just ask her this: if you didn’t know who he was, and someone showed you his photo, and said he claimed to be white, what would your reaction be?

She’d never answer that question truthfully now, but is there anyone who doubts the true answer to that?