ESPN offers Sage Steele $501,000 to settle her free speech lawsuit

SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele does not appear inclined to settle her lawsuit with ESPN following the network's settlement offer. Steele, 50, sued ESPN and its parent company Walt Disney Co. in April 2022 over allegations the network violated her free-speech rights in the aftermath of her comments about its Covid-19 vaccine mandate. SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele does not appear inclined to settle her lawsuit with ESPN Steele, 50, sued ESPN and its parent company Walt Disney Co. in April 2022 over allegations the network violated her free-speech rights Walt Disney Co. offered the presenter $501,000 and to cover 'reasonable' attorney fees 'Disney and ESPN clearly admit their liability by offering to pay Sage Steele more than half a million dollars for taking away her right to free speech. Steele sued ESPN last year for violating her free-speech rights after she was benched for publicly criticizing her employer's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and former President Barack Obama's decision to call himself black. Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis' lawyers filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss Disney's lawsuit against the Florida governor Steele claims she was benched for publicly criticizing her employer's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and former President Barack Obama's decision to call himself black 'I just, I'm not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, I mean a global company like that.'