ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, was accused of attempting to censor ex-employee Sage Steele after the former on-screen talent voiced opinions that irked people at the outlet and supposedly went against company governance.
READ: Sage Steele Won In Her Fight With Disney, ESPN
Steele appeared recently on OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” and relayed how ESPN requested she stop tweeting her support for Riley Gaines, while ESPN and Disney voiced adamant support for the trans community and athletes like Lia Thomas.
Steele noted that the company’s politics eventually became a mandate for employees, placing her in her employer’s sights.
Steele said to Gaines: “I was asked to stop tweeting about it. I was asked to stop doing anything, saying anything about it on social media because I was offending others at the company. I made sure I sent up another tweet that night after I received that email because like, no.”
READ: ESPN’S OVERT POLITICS FORCED SAGE STEELE TO MAKE A STAND FOR WOMEN’S SPORTS | ‘GAINES FOR GIRLS’
Steele mustered widespread support for speaking the truth. “Holy Smokes! Our entire media needs to be completely replaced with Sage Steeles,” one commenter on X reacted to Gaines’ interview with Sage.
“Yes! If only more journalists had the courage, integrity & just plain common decency of a Sage Steele back then & now quite frankly, then America would be a much better place,” another commenter posted.
Following Steele’s claims of censorship on “Gaines for Girls,” OutKick reached out for comment from ESPN, asking directly whether ESPN asked her to stop posting support for Riley Gaines. Vice President of Communications Josh Krulewitz responded with a “No comment.”
OutKick founder Clay Travis sounded off on ESPN’s attempts at controlling Sage Steele and Sam Ponder’s speech, as well as its claims that the network keeps politics out of their operations.
“So ESPN told Sage Steele and Sam Ponder not to comment on Lia Thomas, a man pretending to be a woman in women’s sports, because some other ESPN employees were offended by their opinions?! This is a flat out unacceptable position for any sports media company to have. Light them up.”
Clay raised the question of whether ESPN mandates employees believe men can compete as women, a phenomenon in American sports producing disastrous effects on women’s athletics.
“So ESPN’s corporate policy is men pretending to be women, and winning women’s championships, can only be praised, not criticized in any way lest delicate woke leftists are offended. And now ESPN is declining to comment on this at all. After labeling Lia Thomas a ‘women’s’ athlete of the year.”
The push for ESPN to answer for censoring their employees continues.
Does ESPN stand to lose more viewers for their ‘overt’ politics? Is ESPN supporting censorship? Let us know: alejandro.avila@outkick.com.
Follow Alejandro Avila on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela
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