ESPN anchor Sage Steele sues the network, alleging it violated her free-speech rights

Awful Announcing

Last October, Steele was taken off the air after testing positive for COVID and after she apologized for controversial podcast comments about Barack Obama, the vaccine and women that went viral. The Wall Street Journal reports that Steele is suing, alleging ESPN has “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." Steele also alleges she had prime assignments taken away from her. In a statement, ESPN responded: “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.”