Sage Steele Off ESPN For A Few Days After Positive COVID Test & Controversial Remarks About Barack Obama
Sage Steele Off ESPN For A Few Days After Positive COVID Test & Controversial Remarks About Barack Obama
“Sports Center” anchor Sage Steele sparked tons of controversy when she made remarks about Barack Obama’s race and family earlier this week – but that’s not why she won’t be on ESPN for the next few days.
Instead, Sage Steele tested positive for COVID-19, according to reports. While she won’t be a part of the network’s female-focused event, espnW, she will be back in full swing within the next week.
She addressed her remarks about Barack Obama and said,
“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,”
Earlier this week, Sage Steele appeared on “Uncut With Jay Cutler”, and shared her thoughts on the former president. She spoke on the biracial community and said,
“If they make you choose a race, what are you gonna put? Well, both. She’s like ‘Well, you can’t. Barack Obama chose Black and he’s biracial.’ I’m like ‘Congratulations to the President, that’s his thing. I think that’s fascinating considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found but his white mom and grandma raised him, but okay. You do you. I’m gonna do me.’”
Barack Obama has been open about his father being Kenyan and his mother being White.
Clip of ESPN’s Sage Steele saying that Obama’s “Black dad was nowhere to be found” has gone viral pic.twitter.com/JAfV5U6Y4W
— BACKUP ACCOUNT (@JasmineBrandTHE) October 4, 2021
ESPN heads have since released a statement and 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.”
Also on the podcast, Sage Steele fired shots at ESPN’s parent company, Disney’s mandate that many staffers get the COVID-19 vaccine. She said the policy was “sick” and that she “didn’t want to” get vaccinated, but ultimately ended up doing so.
What are your thoughts on Sage Steele briefly being off ESPN? Comment and let us know.