Former ESPN host Sage Steele said the network instructed him to follow a “script” when conducting a pre-recorded interview with President Biden in 2021.
“It was an interesting experience in itself because it was very structured,” Steele said. recent interviews with Fox News Digital. “And they said, ‘Say every word we wrote out, don’t deviate from the script.'”
steel’s interview The meeting with Biden in March 2021 comes as the sports industry moves toward normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic and some athletes as vaccines are first rolled out. The main reason was that many people were hesitant about getting vaccinated.
The interview attracted attention after Biden took office. He said he would “strongly support” Major League Baseball moved that year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta in protest of a Georgia law that tightened voting restrictions.
Steele told Fox News Digital that the interview was essentially “scripted” by ESPN executives.
“In that word. Every question was scripted and reviewed dozens of times by many executives, editors and executives,” she said. “It was just, ‘Here’s what you ask.’ Here’s what you’re going to say: No follow, no follow. Next.’
“I knew this was much bigger than just the amazing editors I worked with,” she continued. “As I said, this went up to her fourth floor, where all the bosses, the CEO, the decision-makers, our president, our CEO, were all working. ”
She said she wasn’t sure if ESPN sent questions to the White House in advance, but she was sure “that’s what happened.”
“I think it’s really heartbreaking that people who say they love Joe Biden and really care about him allowed this to happen,” Steele said. “So I don’t even look at this from a political standpoint or my own beliefs. This is the human side.”
“And when someone is suffering, do we allow that person to continue to be in the spotlight and then when we know there’s a problem, put them out in the first place? Of course they know it. I had to,” she added. “So for me it’s about humanity and I don’t care where you stand, what you vote for, who you believe. Do you really care about that person? As a father, as a husband, as everything.”
ESPN declined to comment. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
Steele left ESPN last August after nearly 16 years, saying at the time that he wanted to exercise his First Amendment rights “more freely.”
She filed a lawsuit against the network and its parent company in 2022, alleging that her free speech rights were violated. Steele claimed that the sports media retaliated against her for comments she made during an appearance on her podcast, “Uncut with Jay Cutler.”
Steele told former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler that the company’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate is “terrible” and scary. In response, ESPN removed Steele from its programming schedule for a week because of his comments.
— Updated at 5:28 p.m.
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