ESPN offers Sage Steele $501,000 to settle lawsuit

ESPN offered SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele $501,000 to settle the lawsuit against her employer, according to Front Office Sports.

Steele, a longtime anchor and personality on the network, sued ESPN and parent company Walt Disney in April 2022 over allegations her First Amendment and Connecticut’s free-speech rights were violated amid comments about the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. ESPN had a mandate for all employees.

However, Steele’s attorney said they won’t accept the settlement offer from ESPN.

“Disney and ESPN clearly admit their liability by offering to pay Sage Steele more than half a million dollars for taking away her right to free speech,” Bryan Freedman, Steele’s attorney, said. “The offer misses the point. Disney cannot purchase their employee’s constitutional rights no matter how powerful they think they are.

“How about apologizing and treating people fairly? Let me put it this way, would Disney be willing to accept money from the state of Florida and Governor DeSantis in exchange for being silenced? Why the double standard?”

The trial date is set for March 2024.

Steele alleged she was retaliated against after she made comments on Jay Cutler’s podcast in September of 2021 where she called Disney’s vaccine mandate “sick and scary.”

Steele’s comments about former President Barack Obama identifying as black also drew criticism. 

That’s where Steele claimed she was suspended by ESPN for two days and “was forced to issue an apology” under threat of termination, despite the network denying her suspension, per FOS.

Sage Steele turns down settlement offer from ESPN

Her original apology read as followed: “I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize. 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.”

ESPN is in the midst of more cost cutting moves as recognizable talent such as Neil Everett, Rob Ninkovich and Chris Chelios parted ways with the network.

Steele’s remarks were controversial according to the reaction. However, she is still employed and seen throughout ESPN, despite the lawsuit.

How it ends remains to be seen, especially if the case goes to trial next year as anticipated.

Steele, 50, joined ESPN in March of 2007 after initially turning down an offer three years earlier amid her second pregnancy.

She graduated from Indiana University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports communication and was also the commencement speaker at the 2015 graduation.