Sage Steele Leaving ESPN After Settling Lawsuit With Company

Sage Steele is leaving ESPN after settling her lawsuit with the company over allegations that the network violated her free speech rights.

Steele announced her departure with a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday morning.

“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,” she posted.

Steele sued ESPN and parent company Walt Disney Co. in April 2022 for violating her free speech rights. ESPN subsequently sought for the lawsuit to be dismissed in Connecticut Superior Court that June.

Steele alleged that the company treated her unfairly after comments she made in a podcast interview with former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler. Steele questioned the network’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, made comments about former president Barack Obama identifying as Black instead of biracial and said female sports journalists and their wardrobe choices are partly to blame for when athletes make inappropriate comments about them.

Steele claimed that following the interview with Cutler, she was sidelined from prime assignments with ESPN. Steele has long been one of the network’s lead anchors on SportsCenter.

But now, after settling the lawsuit with ESPN, she will move on after joining the network in 2007.