NPR (Dustin Jones) reports on the lawsuit, Steele v. ESPN Productions, Inc. (Conn. Super. Ct.):
During Steele's appearance on former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler's podcast, which aired Sept. 29, 2021, Cutler asked why she had a Band-Aid on her armp. She explained that she had just gotten her COVID-19 vaccine in compliance with Disney's corporate mandate, even though she personally felt the company's requirement to do so was out of line.
"I respect everyone's decision. I really do. But to mandate it is sick, and it's scary to me in many ways," Steele said on the podcast. "But I have a job, a job that I love and, frankly, a job that I need."
On the topic of race, Steele explained she was proud to come from a family that is both Black and white, the court filing said. As the conversation continued, Steele recalled her 2014 appearance on The View, where she was asked why she didn't simply identify herself as a Black, similar to Obama. She said she was fascinated that the former president had identified solely as Black despite having been raised by his white mother and grandmother."
Steele claims that she was "suspended from on-air appearances," though ESPN denies there was a suspension; she also claims that she was "punish[ed]" by being "remov[ed] from prime assignments, including coverage of the New York City Marathon, the Rose Parade, and the 12th Annual ESPNW Summit, which Steele had hosted and emceed since its inception in 2010," as well as being "forced to issue a humiliating public apology … and [being] subjected to bullying and harassment by colleagues while ESPN and Disney did nothing to stop it." She also alleges that she "appeared on the podcast as a private citizen on her day off, and made it clear during the interview that she was speaking on her own behalf, not on behalf of ESPN or Disney."
