Sage Steele reportedly voiced her concerns to ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro in early JuneESPN IMAGES
ESPN anchor Sage Steele told management that she "believes she was excluded from a special the network aired on race last month because she wasn't considered by certain Black colleagues to be an authentic voice for the Black community," according to a source cited by Joe Flint of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The source said that Steele "voiced her concerns to ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro in early June, saying the incident showed the network has a divisive work environment." The source added that Steele was informed by colleagues that she was "considered for the special by the executive in charge," Senior Coordinating Producer Michael Fountain, until two of the other on-air personalities involved, Elle Duncan and Michael Eaves, "complained, saying Ms. Steele wouldn't be accepted by what they considered the Black community." An ESPN spokesperson denied that Steele "wasn't invited to participate in the special because of a campaign by colleagues to undermine her or that her views played any role" in Fountain's decisions. The source said that Steele "wasn't primarily concerned with her exclusion from the special, but rather what she felt have become regular attacks on her character over the past several years because of her views" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/22).
