Former ESPN Anchor Reveals Network Told Her to Not Tweet About Trans Swimmer

The logo during ESPN The Party in San Francisco on Feb. 5, 2016. Mike Windle/Getty Images for ESPN

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele was told by the sports channel ESPN to stop talking about trans collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas, a mandate that Steel did not comply with.

Ms. Steele made the disclosure while recently talking to NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines on her “Gaines for Girls” podcast on the American conservative sports news website Outkick.

Ms. Steele told Ms. Gaines that defending female athletes like Ms. Gaines and taking a stand when it comes to transgender inclusion in women’s sports was a “hill” she is willing to “die on.”

“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,” Ms. Steele said. “I made sure I sent off another tweet that night after I received that email. Because, no, let’s stop living in this lie.”

ESPN Allowed Other Employees to Speak About Issues

Ms. Steele said the request was made to her to stop speaking negatively about transgender inclusion while ESPN allowed other public figures at the company to speak out about other issues—even political ones—that had nothing to do with sports.

“I’m like, no, no, no, no, no. If we’re gonna preach on ESPN, and all of these things, then I’m gonna stand up for all these women—many of whom are afraid to do what Riley Gaines is doing, to do what I’m doing, at a much lesser level than Riley,” said Ms. Steele.

Gaines Reached Goal But Left Trophy-less

Last year, after competing in the women’s 200 freestyle at the NCAA Division/Women’s Championships, Ms. Gaines placed fifth tying with trans-identifying swimmer Lia Thomas, who previously competed on men’s teams.

While Mr. Thomas was given the only fifth-place trophy for the photo-op after the event, Ms. Gaines was told by the NCAA that her trophy would be mailed to her.

At the time, Ms. Gaines told The Daily Wire that an NCAA representative told her: “Hey, I just want to let you know we only have one fifth place trophy, so yours will be coming in the mail. We went ahead and gave the fifth place place trophy to Lia, but you can pose on the podium with the sixth place trophy.”

Although the two swimmers tied, Thomas is listed ahead of Ms. Gaines on the official results page, which indicates Mr. Thomas touched ahead of Ms. Gaines by less than one hundredth.

“I left the pool with no trophy,” Ms. Gaines told the outlet. “Not a big deal, but it was the goal that I had set all year.”

She added: “It’s almost like they’re trying to back [transgender athletes] more than ... 90 to 95 percent of the rest of the swimmers who are kind of bummed by and affected by the rules that were in place for Lia to swim.”

Steele Punished After Criticizing Employer ESPN

Ms. Steele was taken off ESPN and relinquished from high-profile reporting assignments after she criticized the network during an appearance on Jay Cutler’s podcast “Uncut”  for the directive and COVID vaccine mandate they gave her. Ms. Steele later sued ESPN.

“Despite fully complying with ESPN’s policy, Sage Steele was punished for speaking her truth in violation of freedom of speech protections under Connecticut law and the U.S. constitution,” her attorney Bryan Freedman said last year.

“ESPN violated her free speech rights, retaliated against her, reprimanded her, scapegoated her, allowed the media and her peers to excoriate her, and forced her to apologize simply because her personal opinions did not align with Disney’s corporate philosophy of the moment. Sage is standing up to corporate America to ensure employees don’t get their rights trampled on or their opinions silenced.”

The lawsuit was settled this year, as reported by NBC News.

“Life update. Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,” Ms. Steele posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!”

At the time, ESPN said in a statement that the two “mutually agreed to part ways.”

ESPN declined to comment on Ms. Steele’s recent comments when contacted by The Epoch Times.