On Thursday, ESPN filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by “SportsCenter” host Sage Steele. Steele is suing the Disney-owned sports network for infringing on her First Amendment free speech rights.
ESPN’s filing requested that the case be dismissed by Connecticut’s Superior Court on the grounds that Steele never stopped receiving payments from ESPN, implying that she cannot show that the company reprimanded her.
ESPN also asserted that their “creation and broadcast of shows qualifies as protected speech,” arguing that removing Steele from broadcasts or allowing coworkers to avoid appearing with her identifies as free speech.
“Just as it did in the Scarlett Johansson case, Disney responds by trying to shame the person it already has victimized, disclosing facts about Sage’s salary that have nothing at all to do with their legal claims,” said Bryan Freedman, Steele’s attorney, in a written statement.
“The current leadership at Disney continues to denigrate talent disregarding not only their first amendment rights but also employee privacy. The motion has no merit and will be dismissed, as should the leadership at Disney for engaging in this outrageous conduct.”
At the time of publication, ESPN declined to comment.
Steele’s lawsuit is based on the comments she made on the podcast “Uncut with Jay Cutler,” which is hosted by the former NFL quarterback.
Steele, who has been with ESPN since 2007, called Disney’s corporate vaccination stance “sick” and “scary,” noting that she “didn’t want” to get the vaccination but did so in order to stay on air.
When questioned about her life experience as a biracial woman, Steele also commented on her racial identity.
She found it “fascinating” that President Barack Obama chose to identify as Black despite being raised by a white mother and grandmother.
