Sage Steele left ESPN in 2023 after settling a lawsuit with ESPN and Disney over comments she made about the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and other public issues. She said she wanted to leave so she could exercise her First Amendment rights more freely.

Quick Scoop

  • Steele had been with ESPN since 2007 and was a familiar face on SportsCenter and NBA Countdown.
  • She was taken off the air in 2021 after backlash over remarks she made on a podcast.
  • In August 2023, she announced that she had settled the case and was leaving the network.
  • ESPN said the two sides “mutually agreed to part ways.”

What changed

After leaving ESPN, Steele became more publicly associated with free-speech commentary and media appearances.

Bottom line

If you mean “what happened to her career,” the short answer is: controversy over her comments led to a lawsuit, a settlement, and then her exit from ESPN.