Sage Steele: Barbara Walters Tried to Tackle Me
Sage Steele is officially out at ESPN after settling a lawsuit against the company for allegedly violating her right to free speech – and it appears she’s wasting no time sharing more secrets.
The sports broadcaster alleged in an interview with Megyn Kelly that legendary broadcaster Barbara Walters assaulted her in a green room after a controversial appearance on The View.
"It was Barbara, Whoopi (Goldberg) and myself in the dark green room off to the side,” Steele, 50, said on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on Thursday (Aug. 17). "(Walters) just started to back up toward me and looked at me and got close and elbowed me, and it pushed me back into the wall and the trash can. I was like, ‘What did (she) just do to me?’"
She added, "This 140-year-old woman just tried to, like, tackle me.'"
Steele said that the incident took place after she appeared on the panel talk show in 2014, when Walters asked her why, as a bi-racial woman, she doesn't identify as Black.
Related: Twitter Goes In On ESPN Anchor Sage Steele For Comments Made About Barack Obama And His Blackness
“Some of the producers saw it. Whoopi saw it," Steele said about the altercation with Walters. "Whoopi was like, ‘Come here.’ She was great. She pulled me aside in her little area and she’s like, ‘Don’t you let her do it.’ And I’m like, ‘Am I in a movie right now?’ One of the legends in this industry just tried to beat me up!”
Walters died in 2022 at the age of 93.
Steele was sidelined at ESPN in 2021 after her comments on “Uncut with Jay Cutler” where she called COVID-19 vaccine mandates "sick" and "scary."
She later sued the company, which denied suspending her over the comments. Following the successful settlement of the suit, Steele and ESPN parted ways after 16 years.