Sage Steele Reveals the Subject ESPN Told Her She Couldn't Talk About Anymore

Madeline Leesman | December 28, 2023 10:30 AM

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele said in an interview this week that her former employer demanded she stop speaking about Will “Lia” Thomas, the male swimmer who identifies as “transgender” and competed against women at the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas won races and robbed women of opportunities.

Steele made the revelation in an interview with women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas at the NCAA championships and tied against him. In the aftermath, Steele and another ESPN colleague, Sam Ponder, had spoken out against Thomas competing against women, which angered some at the company.

“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,” Steele said on Outkick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast.

“Let’s stop living in this lie. And once again, oh, you’re going to silence me and Sam. She was told the same thing, for this issue, but they were going to let everybody else talk about all these other things that are not even related to sports on our sports programming,” she added.

“I’m going to stand up for all these women, many of whom are afraid,” she continued. “I already had the lawsuit going. I didn’t know how it was going to end. But I literally said, this is the hill I will die on 100 percent because it’s facts. This is not even my opinion about a vaccine mandate or whatever, these are facts. This is science, this is biology. This is all of the things. Come at me. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me to stop supporting women. Go ahead, tell me.”

“It [the locker room] was uncomfortable. I did notice a few girls – there’s a few bathroom stalls in the bathroom – and I did notice some girls changing in the bathroom stalls for practice, which I’ve never really seen that before,” Scanlan said. “For me personally, the biggest thing was, when you’re changing, there’s all these people talking in the background, all these women’s voices, and then all of a sudden you hear a man’s voice. I’d always kind of jump a little bit [hearing Thomas’ voice].”

In addition, Scanlan detailed how school staffers tried to scare the girls into being silent.

“There was something going on in that athletic department that wanted to keep us quiet. And I was like, ‘this is getting scary,’” Scanlan explained. She said that girls were told in a meeting, without Thomas present, “do not talk to the media, you will regret it.”

“Another thing they said is, ‘Lia’s swimming is non-negotiable,’ and then they provided us with counseling services to help us be okay with Lia swimming,” she added. “I was petrified.”