Former ESPN anchors Sage Steele and Stephen A. Smith have opened a rare window into the personal and professional cost of dissent inside a powerful media corporation during the height of left-wing cultural pressure.
Their candid exchange unfolded on Steeles podcast, where she revisited a pivotal moment in 2020, when she was excluded from an ESPN special at the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement after some of her Black colleagues reportedly refused to participate if she was involved, a controversy later detailed in a Wall Street Journal report. According to Fox News, Steele recalled the sting of that public slight, telling her audience, "That hid hard," as she described the internal conflict between protecting her career and standing by her convictions.
Steele explained that she had reached a breaking point as she watched the network embrace a particular ideological narrative while she was effectively pushed aside. "I said, OK, if Im preaching to everybody, including my children, to stand up for what is right, then Im going to continue to stay silent for fear of many things that were real?'" she recounted, adding, "So the article came out, and I went on the air shaking, knowing what was probably happening behind the scenes."
In the midst of that turmoil, Steele received a blunt text from Smith, who questioned the wisdom of her public stand. Steele recalled his message word for word: "Why? How does this help you?"
Smith confirmed her memory on the podcast, saying, "That's exactly what I texted you." Steele responded that his concern left a lasting impression on her, noting, "Ill never forget it," and emphasizing that she trusted his motives: "Because I knew, No. 1, I knew that you wouldnt do it if you didnt care about me as a human being, much less, forget broadcaster. And No. 2, for me, it is bigger than money, it is bigger than position. Its about principle at some point."
Smith, while affirming her right to speak, suggested she underestimated the personal toll at that time. "But here was the problem, and heres what I thought you missed," he told her. "You are a very, very happy woman right now that wasnt the case then. You had a lot going on, and its none of anybodys business unless you want to tell it. And the fact of the matter is, I knew that."
Steele then disclosed that she had been going through a divorce during that period, compounding the strain of her professional battles. Smith stressed that his concern was not about her opinions themselves, but about the cost of voicing them in a hostile environment: "Im not saying that that had something to do with your opinion, Im saying that had everything to do with your zest to express it."
He elaborated that he was focused on her long-term well-being, not the applause of activists or critics eager for controversy. "I was saying why, in other words you got a family, you got a lot of stuff to think about. Its real easy for other people to sit by and let you do it Nah, Im thinking about the next five years of your life, next 10 years, your family, your children. They aint going to think about that because their sorry a--es, whoever those people may be that are rooting against you, theyre not thinking about you. Theyre thinking about the moment youre going to provide for them to have fodder to talk about you That's what friends do."
Steele ultimately departed ESPN in 2023 after filing a lawsuit over being sidelined in 2021, when she criticized the companys COVID-19 vaccine mandate on another podcast, a stance that resonated with many Americans wary of corporate and governmental overreach during the pandemic. After settling the case, she made clear that her exit was about reclaiming her voice, stating she left so she could "exercise my First Amendment rights more freely," underscoring the growing divide between legacy medias ideological conformity and individuals willing to risk career and comfort to defend personal liberty and principle in President Trumps second term.
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