Sage Steele

And when I say public apology, it's a very long statement that I spoke ill of the company. And then, of course, they passed it on to the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune and every single web service to crush me, to embarrass me, and then followed it up with, while we believe in diversity of thought... We're in a suspender.

And when I say public apology, it's a very long statement that I spoke ill of the company. And then, of course, they passed it on to the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune and every single web service to crush me, to embarrass me, and then followed it up with, while we believe in diversity of thought... We're in a suspender.

So they didn't call it a suspension because I was paid. Paid suspension happens in sports all the time. I was taken off the air and forced to pause. I was willing to let it go, Charlie, because I was scared and they scared me and that I wouldn't be able to feed my family and support my family. So what do you do? You do what it takes.

So they didn't call it a suspension because I was paid. Paid suspension happens in sports all the time. I was taken off the air and forced to pause. I was willing to let it go, Charlie, because I was scared and they scared me and that I wouldn't be able to feed my family and support my family. So what do you do? You do what it takes.

The problem is it didn't stop there and they kept taking assignments away and things I had worked on for years and hosting the Rose Parade in Pasadena and the New York City Marathon and they just kept taking things.

The problem is it didn't stop there and they kept taking assignments away and things I had worked on for years and hosting the Rose Parade in Pasadena and the New York City Marathon and they just kept taking things.

In the meantime, my peers were allowed to go on ESPN Airwaves, not on a podcast with an old former quarterback, on ESPN Airwaves and talk about their opinions, how devastated they were when Roe versus Wade was overturned. How angry they were about that and that girls, I guess, didn't have the right to kill their babies on a basketball show. Or their opinions on COVID.

In the meantime, my peers were allowed to go on ESPN Airwaves, not on a podcast with an old former quarterback, on ESPN Airwaves and talk about their opinions, how devastated they were when Roe versus Wade was overturned. How angry they were about that and that girls, I guess, didn't have the right to kill their babies on a basketball show. Or their opinions on COVID.

The George Floyd nonstop Black Lives Matter.

The George Floyd nonstop Black Lives Matter.

And I don't care what our beliefs are. Even if they were aligned with many of what people here in this room believe, you aren't turning to ESPN for politics. No, not at all.

And I don't care what our beliefs are. Even if they were aligned with many of what people here in this room believe, you aren't turning to ESPN for politics. No, not at all.

I don't either.

I don't either.

The only reason they're still alive in my mind is because of the programming. They've done a great job.

The only reason they're still alive in my mind is because of the programming. They've done a great job.

And also for news breaking, we have our phones. You go to X, you go somewhere else. It's not must see TV anymore.

And also for news breaking, we have our phones. You go to X, you go somewhere else. It's not must see TV anymore.

And they've done a great job with that. And that is why they're still standing. But the problem, as I told my bosses for years, long before things went crazy in 2020 with COVID and George Floyd, Please keep it separate. Diversity of thought. Diversity of thought. And we were told not to tweet or talk about politics unless...

And they've done a great job with that. And that is why they're still standing. But the problem, as I told my bosses for years, long before things went crazy in 2020 with COVID and George Floyd, Please keep it separate. Diversity of thought. Diversity of thought. And we were told not to tweet or talk about politics unless...