Sage Steele Apologized to Her Kids—Then Sued ESPN

Sage Steele just walked through the most personal part of her fight with ESPN: the talk she had with her kids the night before she sued the place she worked for 16 years. She did it on Sean Hannity's podcast, and the mix of family- first realism and corporate drama is pretty stark.

The conversation with her kids

On the Thursday, April 2 episode of Sean Hannity's 'Hang Out With Sean Hannity' (Hannity is 64), Steele said she called each of her kids the night before her lawsuit went public to prep them for what might hit their phones and classrooms. At the time, one of them was in college and the other two were in high school. She says that whenever she spoke up, strangers tried to find her kids on social media, and even some coaches, teachers, and parents piled on. Her word for that: sick.

'I just want to apologize for what's coming, and I'm sorry. And don't ever feel like you have to defend me, okay?'

She told them to lean on the idea that differing opinions matter — diversity of thought, as she put it — and that everyone, including their mom (her words: the crazy one), is allowed to have one. Her son’s response, per Steele: it was about time she stood up for herself.

Quick personal context: Steele is 53. She and her ex-husband, Jonathan Bailey, were married from 1999 to 2019 and share three kids — Quinn (24), Nicolas (22), and Evan (20).

How we got here

• 2021: ESPN suspended Steele, then a longtime SportsCenter anchor, over a run of controversial comments tied to the COVID-19 vaccine, former President Barack Obama, and more. She issued a public apology at the time, acknowledging she had created controversy for the company and urging people to communicate constructively and thoughtfully during a tough stretch.
• 2022: Steele sued ESPN, alleging the company violated her free speech and breached her contract.
• August 2023: The two sides settled, and Steele left the network. Since then, she has been working as a conservative commentator.
• Most recently: She laid out the family side of the saga on Hannity’s podcast on Thursday, April 2.

What she says she wanted from ESPN

Steele says she never set out to take ESPN to court. According to her, the ask was simple: apologize to her after the network required her to make a public apology. She says she told them she loved her job and had no intention of suing if they owned their part. Her claim is that the response from ESPN was to laugh — which is quite a behind-the-scenes twist, considering where it all ended up.