Overview
- Sage Steele and Stephen A. Smith discussed on her podcast this week that he texted her, “Why? How does this help you?” after she spoke to The Wall Street Journal in 2020.
- Steele had been left out of ESPN’s June 2020 race special, which the Journal reported followed colleague objections, a claim ESPN denied at the time.
- Smith said he sent the message out of concern for Steele’s children and her future as she navigated a private divorce.
- In a separate interview with Sean Hannity, Steele said she apologized to her children the night before filing her 2022 lawsuit and that her son urged her to stand up for herself.
- Steele settled with ESPN and left in 2023, and she now works in independent media, where she has been recounting the internal disputes over race coverage and COVID-19 policy.