Sage Steele Called Company-Wide Vaccine Mandate “Sick”
Longtime SportsCenter anchor, Sage Steele, has apologized for comments she made regarding ESPN’s company-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In an interview with Jay Cutler on his podcast Uncut with Jay Cutler, Steele called the sports media giant’s mandate “sick” and “scary”, but did say she got the vaccine, despite her hesitance and fear.
“I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is, um, sick. And it’s scary to me in many way,” Steele told Cutler. “But I have a job, a job that I love, and frankly, a job that I need, but again, I love it. I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, a global company…but it was actually emotional.”
VIA The Spun
Nearly a week after the appearance, Steele issued a public apology.
“I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize,” Steele said. “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.”
VIA The Spun
ESPN followed suit with a statement of their own, acknowledging the need for dialogue, but also the importance of adhering to company-wide policies.
“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…”
VIA John Ourand/Twitter @Ourand_SBJ
“…We are having direct conversations with Sage and those conversations will remain private.”
VIA John Ourand/Twitter @Ourand_SBJ
Steele joined ESPN in 2007. She has been pulled from this week’s SportsCenter line-up, according to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, and it remains to be seen when, or if, she appears on-air again.
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