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Aug. 18, 2024 - The Charlie Kirk Show
35:03
Sage Steele is Done Hiding Her Beliefs

After 16 quiet years at ESPN, Sage Steele decided to take a stand against hypocrisy, double standards, and woke infiltration, an her life will now never be the same. Sage talks to Charlie about taking a stand for her faith and her conservative beliefs against a media mob that wanted to take everything from her.Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Time Text
Hey, everybody.
It's the Charlie Kirk Show.
Sage Steele joins the program.
Been watching her for years on ESPN.
Super smart.
Godly woman.
Really emotional.
Phenomenal conversation.
I think you are going to love.
Become a member today at members.charliekirk.com.
That is members.charliekirk.com.
As always, you can email me, freedom at charliekirk.com.
And get involved with Turning Point USA at tpusa.com.
That is tpusa.com.
Buckle up, everybody.
Here we go.
Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks!
I want to thank Charlie.
He's an incredible guy.
His spirit, his love of this country.
He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.
We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
That's why we are here.
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Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com.
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It's where I buy all of my gold.
Go to noblegoldinvestments.com.
Why don't you introduce yourself to the audience?
How'd you get into this crazy conservative world?
Oh, yeah, I guess I'm out of the closet now, huh?
Well, I'm not, I'm, or whatever you are, so... No, I am.
Yeah.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
Um, I am out.
It's funny, John McEntee, who, have you guys seen the date right?
Stuff.
Yes, for conservatives.
I had him on my show, Sage Steele Show, on YouTube, thank you, recently, and he brought swag.
He brought a sweatshirt for me that says, Republicans are hotter.
And all the stuff from my daughters as well.
And so, I was like, you know what?
I'm gonna wear it and I'm gonna post it.
And that was last week.
What was the reaction you got when you did that?
Whoa, I got, like, listen, I don't get the likes that you do.
Okay.
I mean, I'll say, I'll get, like, on average, like, I don't know, 8,000 to 12,000 likes on a decent post.
Sure.
This one I got 32,000 likes.
Well, there you go.
I'm like, oh, and it's like, so true, so true, men, women, it was hysterical.
Long story short, people think, because I'm an army kid, my dad's Former military, West Point.
They think, I know, thank you.
Not me, it's him, I'll tell them.
But they think, oh, your dad was in the military, that's why you're conservative.
No.
I remember in the 1988 election, were you alive?
No, five years before I was born.
I swear, you're so young, it's so annoying.
I remember going to a high school civics, my high school civics class and then coming home right around election time in 88 and asking my parents, like, let's have a conversation, who are you voting for?
And they looked at me and they said, none of your business.
I kind of like that because they wanted me to go discover my why for whoever I chose to support, especially with college coming up.
I graduated from high school in 1990, so the Bush years and Clinton and all that.
So I went on my own and did my homework and research and just have had to be silent about it in order to keep a job.
Wow.
And so you've had a great career.
Talk about that.
And then how'd you end up into this whole space?
Yeah.
Well, you invited me here.
So did you know that you invited me?
I did.
Yeah.
I'm kidding.
I saw your RFK interview and that's like, she must come to the Believer Summit.
Well, that was interesting.
That was amazing.
That was interesting.
I mean, that's the thing with my new show right now.
I love being able to talk to people with very different viewpoints.
My whole thing is diversity of thought.
And I've been pushing that for 15 plus years, whenever I've spoken on college campuses, wherever, because I didn't, I wasn't out.
I keep saying it, but I had these beliefs.
I was just, um, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to say it, say what they were on any given topic.
So I would just lead with that and give other examples about true diversity of thought.
Yes.
Because we talk about DEI and all these other things, and I think that's easy.
This, and many other forms of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
But I think if we begin with diversity of thought, the rest really falls in line.
So, wait, what was the question?
How'd you find yourself into this crazy world that we're in?
I'm as a mother.
I have three kids there.
As of August 12th, I'm going to be an empty nester.
Wow.
I have next year in August as a freshman in college, a junior in college, and a senior in college.
So this is it.
That's why I'm moving to Florida in six weeks too.
Congrats.
Full time.
Yeah.
From Connecticut.
I was always in Connecticut just because that's world headquarters for ESPN.
So from 07 to 2024 in Connecticut, because that's where I had to be to work.
Can you talk about your time at ESPN?
Yeah, listen, it was awesome.
It was my dream job that I set out to do when I was 11 years old, to be a sportscaster.
And there were no women doing that then, certainly no women who looked like me.
And it was this crazy dream that I announced at the dinner table in 1984, literally this time ago, 40 years ago, when I was 11 years old, because it was the 84 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Again, you weren't alive.
There was this thing called the Olympics.
That's right.
And I remember.
And I don't remember the Atlanta Olympics in 96 either.
96, right?
So annoying.
I was three years old, so I don't remember those either.
Thank God for the internet.
Yes.
You can go look it up.
No, it was, um, I just knew from a very young age that sports brought people together.
I remember, you know, watching football games and on a football Sunday at any stadium across America, you have 70, 80,000 people that for three hours, it didn't matter your race, your gender, your socioeconomic status, your politics.
You were just on the same page and rooting for that team and you're high-fiving strangers next to you.
And it's beautiful.
And then you leave and all hell breaks loose, you know?
So I felt that, I don't know, camaraderie and just happiness with sports and I wanted to be a part of it.
And then I wanted to also know about greatness and to be around some of the best athletes that, you know, that translates into every aspect of life.
Your mental toughness, your ability to push through uncomfortable moments and fear when you're at the Olympics and you're on the starting line for the 100 meter dash.
Like, I know that when I ran the 800 meters in junior high, I wanted to So I can't imagine being an Olympian.
I wanted to know about that mental toughness.
So that's why I did it.
And there was 11 years from my first job out of college till I got to ESPN.
And then was at ESPN for... What did you learn being at ESPN as far as studying greatness and the best athletes on the planet?
That they're just like us.
I was able to humanize them and realize like in interviews, for example, they would be nervous and I would have to warm them up.
I remember what like one of my first, probably the first couple of months at ESPN.
At the time we had Jerry Rice.
Do you know Jerry Rice?
Yeah, I'm a big football fan.
Yes, Jerry Rice is a receiver for the 49ers and I think he also played for Oakland.
Good job.
Thank you.
Yes.
I'm just saying.
Am I right?
Didn't he play for both the Raiders and the 49ers?
He did.
Primarily the 49ers.
Yes, I'm aware.
And he won two Super Bowls with Montana, right?
You know who Joe Montana is?
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
I could play sports trivia out of the big majors.
What?
Was one with Steve Young, right?
Yes, who I love, Steve.
He just left ESPN.
You're right, yeah, it was one of them.
Oh, it's you.
Didn't Rice wear 81, if I'm not mistaken?
80.
Was it 80?
Okay, I'm almost right.
So... Want to keep going?
No, we're good.
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
At this point, I've been out of it for almost a year, and I didn't, by the way, I didn't realize how much I needed a little bit of a break from sports when that's all you do.
See, I wish I could have your job.
Live and breathe.
I want to go do sports for a year, and you can go do politics for a year, and... That's not a fair trade.
Yeah, I yearn to be able to do sports.
I loved every moment, even when it was, you know, controversial on the back side of it.
But I, for instance, Jerry Rice and Emmett Smith.
Running back for the Dallas Cowboys.
Played college football.
I don't know, actually.
Was it Oklahoma State or University of Florida?
Florida, right around the corner.
I didn't know that, yeah.
It's okay, we're here to help them, aren't we?
He is a Hall of Famer though.
There you go.
And I'm totally kidding.
Like, I was doing SportsCenter segments with these guys and we couldn't do them live because they were not good at it.
Really?
Yes.
And I say that with respect because just because you are an expert in something and the GOAT Jerry Rice and a Hall of Famer doesn't mean that you can speak it and make that translate on television to millions of people when the cameras are on and live or taped.
I feel like he's gotten better, though.
He's pretty good now.
Who, Emmett?
No, Jerry Rice.
He does interviews and stuff, right?
That's different from, like, being an analyst on TV and breaking down... But doesn't Emmet Smith now do commentary for Fox or no?
I don't know.
I don't know.
He might, but ESPN's a different animal.
And as an analyst, though, I'll tee you up with a question.
You may or may not know what's coming.
And then you have to be able to have a conversation about it.
From a breakdown analyst perspective, NBA, Tim Legler, been there for 24, 25 years, the best.
And my gauge for good analysts is, what do I learn when I am done watching that segment?
And so if you can't get up here and tell me why they chose to run this play at this moment, Sorry, what am I learning from you?
Like, you were there, I wasn't.
You've been there.
So, it was incredible to see the best of the best struggle with that part of it.
Because you can know how to do it, but can you explain it and make it in layman's terms?
Especially, there's been the increase of women who have been interested in football and sports in general over the past 20 years.
Those numbers have completely skyrocketed.
Fantasy football, almost more women than men play fantasy football now.
So, that's because You love sports, you see the benefits of it, but good analysis matters.
And so it was just cool to kind of personalize those guys.
And they would ask me for advice, which I was like, oh, what do I what do I say?
But I will tell you, it did change, Charlie.
Like ESPN from 07 until when I left, which is 11 months ago, changed dramatically and in a way that is so unfortunate, because I don't think anybody I know nobody does it better.
No network does sports news better than ESPN, but they chose to take A turn.
What turn did they take?
I think they've been building up to it for years.
But... What is Disney?
Yeah.
And just super woke.
And a lack of diversity of thought.
That's what actually ended up, you know, ending my... But this is sports.
What diversity of thought do we need?
I mean, so give us... Well, they politicized it.
I mean, they brought politics in.
I mean, when Trump was elected in 2016, that was the massive turning point that I noticed when I went on Twitter that night.
Watching the results come in and being in shock because of what the polls were saying ahead of that, right?
Like, not even going to be a thing.
And then we're like, wait, what's happening?
And I remember looking at Twitter and seeing executives, my bosses, tweeting their hatred for Donald Trump.
And how angry they were that he had just won.
And I remember thinking, wait, there might, there are leaders and they're putting that out publicly.
What is this?
Because we were told not to, but then when the bosses do it, you go, what the heck is happening?
So that's where it began.
And then 2020 is when it peaks with, with, with COVID and George Floyd.
And literally to me, that's when it was the point of no return.
Yeah.
And then we had the bubble in the summer of 20 and that was super politicized.
NBA for the playoffs and the finals.
It was more politics than it was basketball that summer.
I know you have Jonathan Isaac here.
Yeah, he's amazing.
He's such a special guy.
I mean, he's probably 24, 25.
He went to Florida State.
See, that one I know.
There you go.
He's such an incredible human being.
He really is.
And his courage.
I want to give him credit.
So this is how amazing Jonathan Isaac is.
I say a lot of things.
Something I said got taken wildly out of context.
And there were so many people pressuring Jonathan Isaac not to speak at this event.
And he was like, no.
Are you serious?
I know Charlie.
I don't agree with everything he says.
I'm not going to cancel.
I'm still going.
And that, for an NBA starter to say that, deserves so much applause.
I can't tell you.
That is a big, big, big gig.
Huge.
And by the way, it's interesting, because he's been out now for a couple years too, and they're still coming after him.
Because he's the one guy, right?
Do you all remember what happened in the bubble with Jonathan Isaac?
He didn't kneel.
He didn't kneel.
And he...
Yep.
didn't believe in that kind of divisiveness and so the very night I
mean he got crushed on Twitter that night like killed for standing and the
very next day he went out and they played a game and what happened he went
up and I think he was just going up for a rebound or a block or something he
came down and blew out his Achilles or his ACL and the internet blew up again
and it was all these people laughing at him and celebrating his injury
And I actually got emotional reading these tweets, thinking, this 21, 22-year-old kid is reading this now.
And it's just the hypocrisy that comes from those people that crushed him, or the same ones who crushed me and others.
It is so sick.
The problem is nobody calls them out on it in the sports world, and that's why I want to.
Of all the places, though, and thank you for that, where you'd think that Like a hyper politically correct wokeism should be inconsistent with the value structure.
It's highly competitive athletics because it's a pure meritocracy.
Yeah, it is high pressure.
It is cutthroat.
It is market principles employed where you're not you don't have affirmative action in the NBA nor should you or in the NFL.
So why is it that the sports world has been so open and accepting of this value system that is antithetical towards what makes sports so entertaining and excellent?
I don't have... I have, trust me, I've racked my brain trying to figure out the why behind it.
One thing I will say, I don't believe that they all believe what they're saying and what they're preaching.
I totally agree with that.
Yeah.
It's no different from... Stephen A. Smith doesn't believe half the stuff he says.
Correct.
I can confirm that.
Correct.
Which, um, makes it maybe worse.
I think it's totally worse.
I actually think half of it's an act just to make people happy.
And he's making, you know, 13, 15 million dollars a year salary, much less the other stuff.
So, um, like I get it, to an extent, but it's also, and this is what has killed me through the years, once you make it to a certain level, um, like for instance, Shaquille O'Neal is a great example, who I love.
I think he's a great guy.
Please silence your phones, guys.
And back to the blue and all those and he's an army kid as well.
One time I was, I was at the NBA Finals and I I guess spoken out about a couple of things was right after Kaepernick kneeling like all that kind of stuff began and I spoke out and I got crushed for it and I got went back in my little shell because I was afraid and I have you know three kids to support and just as fearful for my like there's real fear it's legitimate and I see why people are fearful but he came up to me he's like Let me tell you something, and I won't continue because I'm bad at that.
But he was like, I got you.
And I agree with you.
And I was like, thank you.
And where have you been then?
And why haven't you retweeted the hate and been like, guys, we're better than this?
In particular, and this is controversial, but it's factual, in the black community, if you go off script, Your people will come after you quite, not all the time, quite often.
I see nodding over there.
It has broken me.
It has been probably one of the most devastating parts of my overall life.
Long before I became a sportscaster, because I'm biracial.
My mom's white, my dad's black, and I was never enough for this, never enough for that.
So you pay reparations yourself?
Oh my gosh, yes!
Yes, I didn't even know what those were, and now... But it's like, wait, what?
Like, Shaq has that platform.
Stephen A has that platform to be able to say, you know what, you don't have to agree with her, but why do we crush each other?
I don't know any other culture that crushes you if you go off the script.
Which, by the way, we're not monolithic.
Like, just because I have brown skin color doesn't mean you and I agree with anything.
And maybe we do, but to put people in a box like that makes me sick, and I'm done with that.
So I just feel like people like Shaq... Amen, I love that.
It makes me crazy.
But people like Shaq, those are the men, the Stephen A's, who need to speak up more.
And it doesn't mean even make us take a stance on certain things.
Well, first of all, forget the racial thing.
Like, men should stand up for women when they're picked on, period.
So, like, that's just the principle.
But wait, here's another thing with that.
Where are the women standing up for women?
I don't expect... That's not going to happen.
Like, I think that's... Well, listen, with the... I'm sorry, but I... You're probably right, but with this whole transgender sports thing, I've said this before... No, no, of course, I'm just like this... No, but I'm so mad because I'm like, if women... Just the female sports journalists across this country came together, literally, and were like, what are we doing, guys?
Because we've been pushing Title IX and Billie Jean King.
Everybody's there and loud about it.
That's a powerful point.
And now we're silent?
And I have begged my female peers to come together on this because if we did, this would be gone.
We would crush this whole thing, but the fear is real and they stay silent.
By the way, this isn't about my controversy, one of my many, with the vaccine mandate.
No, no, no, that's okay.
You can have opinions on that and the science behind it.
This is proven.
Men are different than women.
Women are different than men.
Why are we not standing up for real hashtag science?
Yes.
And that's what I don't, I can't accept.
I totally agree, and... I mean, Shaq works for Turner, I think, right?
So does Charles Barkley.
But I... He says anything and everything that he wants.
Yes, of course they do.
And Barkley goes way off script.
That's what I mean, Barkley.
And no one cares.
Everyone laughs.
Oh, it's just Barkley being Barkley.
Like, whatever.
But I know there are legit conservatives that still work for ESPN.
I mean, if you had Pat McAfee in a room, he would agree with most of what we're saying, but he's not allowed to say it, right?
Correct.
Kurt Curbstreet, same thing.
Like, Kurt Curbstreet is a conservative, but you're not supposed to know that, right?
There's a lot.
There's a lot, right?
But it makes me mad because I'm like, why, why was I, and it didn't happen intentionally though, but why, why was I the only, the only one?
These are, by the way, big, strong, tough men with a lot of money.
Where you at?
No, but this is a, again, that's why I go back to the men of society should stand up against bullies and should say, OK, maybe you're going to cut my salary from college game day.
I don't care.
You're not going after sage.
Or you're not going to go after people that can't defend themselves.
That's a core fundamental principle of a society that we've allowed to deteriorate.
And ESPN is a beast.
The product is better.
It's gotten so much worse.
I remember, first of all, why'd they ever get rid of, you know, the worst play of the day on SportsCenter?
Did you notice that?
The not top 10.
The not top 10.
Why'd they get rid of that?
Because Mark Sanchez was like for a year and a half on the butt fumble.
The butt fumble.
Gina, do you know how sick we got of saying, and number one, Do you know, you guys know this, right?
That Mark Sanchez, who went to University of Southern California and played high school football at Mission Viejo High School, and was number six at USC, and then drafted by the New York Jets, had the worst play in American history on the Thanksgiving game, right?
I think it was the Friday after the Thanksgiving, the butt fumble.
So they would have the worst play, and it would always be, I think, voted by the internet or something, the worst play.
And it was voted the worst play for like a year and a half straight.
Right?
So poor Sage.
And again, on the not top 10, a play that happened a year ago, and then you guys just got rid of it.
I don't... I think they retired it.
It hasn't come back.
No, but they still do on Fridays.
Listen, I haven't turned it on since I left.
You know, I don't... I used to watch... I mean, either.
But it's not even intentional.
It wasn't like, I'm going to show them.
They don't care.
They do not care about me.
No, they don't.
It's more that, you know, when you know how the sausage is made, and I'm watching this and I'm like, OK, I know what just happened there.
That's BS.
That whole thing.
She's smiling.
She is the meanest person I've ever met.
Like that, I'm like, no, no, no.
It's just been healthier to step away.
But there's a ton of, to your point, a ton of really good people, too.
But Fridays, I think they still do have the not top 10.
They still do the not top 10.
Which is the best, because they have I only watched one non-sports programming show on ESPN, and that's College Game Day, which I still think's a great show.
Herb Street.
Yeah, with Herb Street and Desmond Howard.
McAfee's a questionable addition, but that's a separate issue.
Did anyone watch College Game Day?
Has anyone watched that?
Do you guys like McAfee or no on that show?
People say that he frats it up a little bit.
I agree, right?
I don't think that it's a good addition.
But, so, are you happier now that you're not at ESPN?
I'm so happy.
It's weird.
But I miss it.
I miss I don't miss 98% of what came with it and those pressures.
And frankly, I said this to my actual leaders, the lack of leadership, like from the top down people that I had good relationships with until I didn't until I spoke out, you know, those same leaders who believe, as many people in this room do, but chose to remain silent and That to me is the problem because again, they're the same ones that are preaching all the DEI stuff, but then they stay silent for that.
I just, I wouldn't change a thing.
And I really think it's taught me so much about just courage when it shouldn't be courageous to be true to who you are.
Unfortunately, it is right now, but I do feel a shift.
I do feel a turn.
I know that The feedback I've gotten from so many people who are still there, and many others on the outside.
Like I said on stage, I didn't know there was this other world out there.
I mean, I was suspicious.
I'm like, hmm, he seems nice.
I agree with this or that, but you're afraid to go there.
And what I've found is that people are kind even if they disagree.
I think Twitter and the internet can be... Not in real life.
It's not, but that's what's shoved down our throats.
I do also, I know this, that like my decision to stand up when they silenced me, cancelled me, took me off my show, suspended me, took this, like all the things.
It wasn't because, all I asked for was an apology.
When I talked to my attorney, finally, who's the same attorney, by the way, that Megyn Kelly had, that Tucker Carlson currently has, even Don Lemon, Chris Harrison, one of my dear friends who hosted The Bachelor back in the day, we all have the same attorney.
If you get kicked by your TV network, we all know who to call.
You call Brian Friedman.
And when I talked to him, he was like, absolutely.
All we asked for was an apology from Disney.
And they laughed.
If they had just apologized and owned it and gave me my assignments back, I would never have... Listen, I got divorced.
I didn't even use an attorney for my divorce.
I should have.
So, like, I'm the least litigious person, okay?
Sorry, too much information.
Like, I didn't want to do any of that, but I knew that if I didn't do it at that moment, like, literally say goodbye to Frankly, my soul.
And with three kids who are watching everything that I do, that was that moment.
But when they chose to not, to not do that, to not apologize, then we went forward with it.
But literally, if it hadn't been for the way they treated my peers, which was, you can go on NBA Countdown and talk about how upset you are that Roe vs. Wade was overturned.
You can talk about George Floyd.
You can talk about all the politics on NFL, NBA, SportsCenter shows.
Yeah, that's what I think of on NBA Countdown.
Why?
Like, to your point, why go there?
But I go on a podcast on an off day to talk about why I'm upset that I'm being forced to take a vaccine to keep my job.
Not a vaccine, by the way.
mRNA, gene altering shot.
Thank you.
I need to change that.
You're right.
This is my own opinion off the platform.
Like, I wouldn't even wear my cross, you guys, on TV because I respected the separation.
And as a journalist, I'm not trying to share my opinion on that news program.
I'm so excited to be able to wear this cross now.
It has been a lifetime of getting there.
But... Isn't that the best?
It's so weird, but I just, I think all we are asking for is consistency.
So back to the leaders, at the end of the day, you can't crush me and punish me and literally blow up my career for what I said about my own opinion about being biracial and what has come with that.
That's my experience.
And I did not do it on your airwaves specifically, but then let all of my peers do just that to the nth degree.
I just wanted consistency and I'm done with the hypocrisy.
Otherwise I would never have sued and so I'm glad they made those decisions because I wouldn't be here today and no longer having that fear of being true to my... Listen, my daughter's in a high school, just graduated from high school, where you can be a girl today, a boy tomorrow, and a cat on Thursday.
So like, I'm done with... So you're fine with that, but I can't...
Talk about my beliefs with a vaccine.
Vaccine.
Or my experience as a woman of color.
Like, I'm out.
Which one is it?
It's all or nothing.
So yeah, you're able to pull rank as a woman of color as long as it's leftist.
Correct.
But if you want to be a conservative woman of color, you're nothing to them.
Correct.
And by the way, if I had said, all you anti-vaxxers, you're selfish.
If I had said that, I would be celebrated.
I would still probably be there.
And again, that's the hypocrisy.
And if we don't call it out on our platforms, which I never expected to have a voice.
I just wanted to talk about sports.
I didn't know what it would turn into, but now I literally feel like the two reasons why I'm on this earth.
I have these three beautiful psycho college age kids who are my, they're my everything and my why.
And to speak up.
I just didn't know that that would be my path.
And God has given me now the confidence to do it.
And most importantly, to get there, I'm finally okay with being disliked.
And that was scary.
That was hard.
So that's fascinating.
That's so important.
I want to emphasize that.
Upon self-examination, did you always feel the need to be liked?
Oh my goodness, I was such a pleaser.
It's like the worst disease ever.
I was such a pleaser and firstborn and only girl and just perfectionist in every way and I still find myself doing that sometimes, which is why I don't read comments really good or bad anymore because it's just, it's such a waste of time and I am grateful for the good but I know that I'd focus on the one, right?
The one bad one.
And my mother, at one point, said to me, after the first time I got in trouble, like in 2017, and it was coming off of Trump being elected, and then all the players kneeling, and I'm like, wait, you're complaining about Trump being in there, and you didn't even vote!
These are athletes, NFL athletes, and they, like, just vote, and then you can complain, but otherwise, shut up, I don't want to hear it.
So I said something to that effect, a little bit more polite on Twitter, and that was when I first got in trouble, and it was bad.
And my mother, called me and she's crying and she's tough and she's like, please just delete the comments, just go through, delete it.
And I was like, mom, if I delete that, it makes it look like it didn't happen.
People need to see what happens when you are on the wrong side.
And so that was the beginning, you know.
That was the beginning of letting go.
Letting go of the fear of being disliked.
I imagine at ESPN, though, there are other people that are very unhappy millionaires, where they're being paid a lot of money, but they're being held captive by a woke corporation.
And do they communicate with you without any names?
You know, do they?
Here or there?
Here or there?
But at the end of the day, a couple.
I mean, a lot of them were the behind-the-scenes people who are my people.
The producers and the researchers and the cameramen and women.
And they're the ones that I don't get the credit for making ESPN what it is.
And they thanked me.
And I saw someone at the grocery store the other day who's like, I wanted to find you before you left.
I'm so sorry it wasn't more vocal and like, it was an emotional conversation at Whole Foods the other day.
You know what I mean?
And that's the thing, like, I get the fear.
I always say that there's huge risk.
I left millions of dollars.
Like, I did.
And the next day, it's like, I don't know where my next paycheck is coming from.
I didn't.
I don't.
I'm starting my new show.
You know how long it takes to build.
Like, I'm not getting a paycheck right now.
But I've never been more at peace.
Despite having so much responsibility.
Again, three kids in college at the same time.
And it's just me.
But Sage, I hear from people all the time, I can't speak out because I don't, I need money.
I get it.
Like, I get it.
And I did have, you know, a nice savings, but like not forever.
And how about just when you make it to the top?
Whatever that means.
But you know, years at that network, you make it to the top, you just stay quiet.
You just keep that going until they say no.
And it is, there is ego involved in everything we do, right?
When we've built for careers, like, am I going to be okay?
Like not being That face anymore.
I was one of the faces of the network.
And now I'm in airports, you know, I always have been, but I look at it differently and I'm walking by every restaurant, every bar, every TV screen in every airport is maybe CNN, but otherwise it's all ESPN or ESPN2.
And I'm like, gosh, that 12 to 2 Eastern, that was me for all of these years.
And I thought I would miss it more.
And I just don't because I didn't realize how it had built up in here and because I feel like now I'm talking about things that are a lot more important, you know?
I love that.
What role did your faith play in all of these decisions?
Everything.
My faith.
I've always had a strong faith, but it's another level now.
It is.
I remember the day of the decision to get my shot.
Gotta not say vax, right?
Get my shot.
Shot.
Get the shot.
Um, and I had to get it by September.
I had to be fully vaxed by September 30th, 2021, which means two weeks prior.
I think he had to get it and I chose the one shot, whatever that was.
Um, and I remember being so upset because I knew if I didn't do it, then I'd be fired.
And I got, I prayed, prayed, prayed, and I got in the shower and I just asked God for a sign one way or another.
And.
I open my eyes in the shower and on the other side of the glass, there's this really ugly marble tile that I look at it every day, like thousands of times.
I've looked at that area when I open my eyes, when I'm washing my hair and this marble was in the shape of an angel.
This one time.
And I literally started sobbing.
And I took that as, um, you're gonna be okay.
Like, I'm not gonna let whatever's in this shot hurt you.
And you're doing it for the right reason to keep your job because you're kids.
So go do it.
And that moment, um, was insane for me because I asked for a sign.
And I think quite often we don't ask for the signs.
Just ask.
And then you're looking for a sign to drop.
Not necessarily.
It might hit you in the face, right?
The other moment that I want to share that I actually haven't talked about this much is, I didn't say this earlier, I took the shot, I did the podcast, I got in trouble, got suspended, and then I got COVID really bad.
Like, of course, right?
Safe and effective, yeah.
Great.
So I'm so sick.
My kids and I had just gone through the divorce.
It was a devastating time in general in my life.
As a woman of faith, as a Catholic, where divorce is not okay, my own disappointment, like so much, and the pandemic and all of the things.
And I was so sick, Charlie, and I My heart after getting that shot was racing so fast.
I literally thought I was having a heart attack or I was dying with the COVID.
And so I, it was three in the morning and I was alone.
I'd been alone for eight days.
Kids were at their dad, like I was alone.
And I just was going to get in the shower and drive myself to the hospital.
And when I got up to take a shower.
I fell over.
I had nothing in me.
And I realized that if I fall in the shower, no one will find me.
I hit my head and that'll be it.
And so I got back in bed and prayed that I would wake up the next morning.
And I did, obviously, but my lowest moments is when I've asked for just a sign, not do this for me or don't do this, just guide me, just lead me.
And those times, and then when I had terrible headlines, terrible headlines, lies that were written about me.
And I couldn't get off the ground and my mom and dad, who are now 78 and 75, this is three years ago, my dad has two kinds of cancer.
He's not supposed to be around someone with COVID at the time, bad COVID.
My mom and dad, doesn't matter how old you are, they got in their car and they drove up and they lifted Their 50-year-old daughter, little girl, off the ground to say, we've got you and we're doing this together.
And every single day from the end of my suspension to the day I left ESPN, I pulled into the parking lot to go do the show.
And my parents, we would say a prayer.
Saint Michael the Archangel.
Um, basically protecting you from the wickedness and snares of the devil.
And I felt like I had a bubble around me every day when I went in there from people that hated me that I worked with, from all the fears I had to go be myself while I'm in an active lawsuit while on national TV with that company every single day.
And literally, God got me through every ounce of it.
And that's why I have this piece, even though I don't know what tomorrow brings.
If I were still there, I would never have been allowed to sit with you, to meet so many kind people here at this summit conference for the weekend that you have poured your heart and soul into.
There's so many blessings when you push through fear that I had no idea.
And when I was filing the lawsuit, and I'll shut up, I promise.
When I was filing the lawsuit the night before, I went to each one of my kids and said, listen, this is what's going to happen tomorrow.
I don't want you to feel like you have to defend me.
You don't have to agree with me.
Tell the teachers and coaches who say crap to you diversity of thought.
And my mom has her right.
And my son looked at me and I said, I am sorry if anything comes your way.
They've gotten hate, they got death threats because of my opinions on social media, my kids.
And my son looked at me and he goes, it's about time you stood up for yourself.
And he was 17.
So, if we don't, if we live in this fear of trying to please, of trying to protect your kids from difficult things, of losing your job, of losing your money, of losing your status, losing all those things, Friends, my friends circle is like this big now because they left.
But it's okay because they were there for a season and that taught me what?
When you do have friends, you know who your people are and you are there for them when they need it too.
So it's actually all of this and the cancellations and the hate is such a blessing and I wouldn't know that without my faith.
Sage Steele, everybody.
Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
Email us, as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.
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