Sage Steele is still exploring her next platform.
Former ESPN personality Sage Steele strongly criticized the hosts of “The View” during her guest appearance on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast.
In their extensive conversation that ventured into topics beyond sports, such as politics and cultural debates, Maher suggested the idea of Steele becoming the opposing voice on the liberal ABC daytime talk show.
“You should be on ‘The View,’” Maher said on Sunday’s podcast.
“Hell no!” Steele reacted. “I’ve been on ‘The View’ and it didn’t go so well because you know what? At ‘The View,’ they don’t want your view. They only want theirs. And they’re bulls—.”
“Exactly,” Maher agreed. “And the problem is they’ve never had anybody who’s smart enough to actually say it the way you’re saying it.”
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“When you’re four-on-one… and I’ve experienced it. I’ve felt it,” she continued. “And they were nice to me, relatively speaking. Whoopi was very nice to me. Jenny McCarthy- this was Whoopi, Jenny McCarthy, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters. And they were great to me. Barbara, whatever. The other three were great. And what I know for a fact, I did it four times, and then they had me audition when they were making changes again, they 100% are full of it. They don’t want to hear your view if you think differently than they do. And they are fine telling lies on that stage and that set. And because they know that if someone calls them on it, then they’re just gonna talk over them and have the audience clap and go to break. So the show to me is despicable, and it makes me sad because the potential for 20-some years, I respect that, the length they’ve done it, but the potential is incredible, and they ruined it.”
“I don’t agree with that,” Steele countered, pointing to Elizabeth Hasselbeck as an example of someone who effectively expressed conservative viewpoints while on “The View.”
“But I think you can handle it,” Maher persisted.
Steele then politely reminded him that she had worked “under the umbrella” of Disney, the parent company of both ESPN and ABC, before leaving the company following a protracted legal dispute.
“They easily could have called me, especially the last several years when these conversations have to take place. They won’t call me- why? Because they know. They know that I’m not afraid. They don’t want that. So, no, thank you,” Steele added.
Steele, the former host of “SportsCenter,” revealed that she had “successfully reached a settlement” in her lawsuit against ESPN. In the lawsuit, she accused the network of infringing on her free speech rights when she criticized the company’s vaccine mandate and discussed former President Obama’s racial identity.
“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave, so I can exercise my First Amendment rights more freely,” Steele posted on social media. “I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!”
Steele’s lawsuit contended that ESPN selectively enforced its policy, which prohibits news employees from discussing politics and social issues. The lawsuit claimed that ESPN’s actions violated Connecticut law and infringed on Steele’s right to free speech, citing a flawed interpretation of her statements and a workplace policy that was not consistently enforced, serving merely as a pretext. It also alleged that the network relied on inaccurate third-party reports of Steele’s comments without promptly reviewing the actual comments or their context.
