October 25, 2025 • 34 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Michael Berry Show. In addition to being a beautiful woman,
Sage Steele is a very talented woman. She was a
talented broadcaster at ESPN, where she was a sports center anchor,
and where she was a woman in a man's world.
She came into the sporting world as a woman pretty
early in that phase. And I've never been a big
(00:22):
fan of women in men's sports. I don't care if
you don't like me for that. I think a lot
of men feel that way. They just won't be honest
with you about it. I've always found it to be
a distraction, and I've always found that the networks are
trying too hard to show us that women can talk
about sports. Of course they can, but must they? Is
(00:43):
that really necessary? But I've always felt that Sage Steele
wasn't a distraction. She was never trying to be you know,
look at me, I'm so smart. She actually fit in
like one of the guys. And I will tell you
that I consider that to be a great compliment. Again,
I realize that saying that will annoy a lot of people.
I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to be honest,
(01:04):
and I would hope you would respect at least that,
But when the woke got to be too much, Sage
Steele stood up to it and it cost her her career.
Now she pivoted, she does other things. She's also a mom,
she's now podcasting. But I think she has developed a
(01:24):
whole new fan base of people who deeply respect her.
And that's different than being a SportsCenter anchor an ESPN
just talking about sports. I think people admire Sage Steele
because I do so. Here she is telling her story
of how she took on ESPN's woke culture, sue Disney,
which owns ESPN, and reclaimed her life. This week we
(01:49):
seek to amplify the story of Sage Steele. Here she
is talking about how she found strength to take on
one of the world's most powerful companies and the lessons
she learned. I hope you'll amplify her story and share
it with others, and I hope it will inspire you
to be brave and bold as she has been and
continues to be.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
How did this shy kid who just wanted to talk
about sports for a living sue the Walt Disney Company
in ESPN to stand up for freedom of speech and
Fourth Moment rights like I don't know how that happened. God,
one hundred percent. God.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
When you do the right thing, you suddenly have more
hours in the day. It's really unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
The reason I filed the damn lawsuit is because I
want these companies to know that we will know longer
accept it.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Do you think America is a racist country? Is it?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I get so mad when people say that you can
be a girl today, a boy tomorrow, and a cat
on Thursday. Right, That's fine, but I couldn't be a
conservative with my gender and my skin color. Too many
people feel scared to death of their companies, Like, I
get it, but just know that you.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Are not alone, Sage Steele.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Let's have the conversation we had in the green room
right here over in front of the whole world.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
Buckle up, buscle.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So for those who are living under a rock and
don't know about your story, I want to just get
right into it. And I actually think it's going to
be so fascinating to walk through your story now, several
years later, where you can really talk about everything. There's
another little Sage Steel somewhere out there who is probably
going through what you have gone through and has no guidance,
(03:26):
has little courage and doesn't really have a role model
to follow to note that things will be okay.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
And boy, you are okay. You are okay.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And so I want the little sage steel and I'm
sure they're both women and men to hear what you
went through and how you came out of it an
absolute warrior.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
First of all, thank you and thank you for inviting me.
Conversations are what life is about for me today and
always have. It's always what it's been like. But I
was never really allowed to, you know, and you work
on live news show. I was in Sports Center for
all those years, and it's like I gotta go, go, go,
go go, And so it's been awesome to be able
to do it on my own show, and to be
(04:07):
able to do this with you, like I never thought
to be allowed to.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
This is a big deal.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
To be able to actually talk forget about cameras and
just go It was a I ended up so crazy.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
How did this shy kid believe or not?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
And I still feel that way sometimes I get shy
and I have to like.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Flip the switch.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
How did this shy kid who just wanted to talk
about sports for a living and tell stories of great
athletes and their why sue Walt, the Walt Disney Company
and ESPN to stand up for her freedom of speech
and first moment rights, like I don't know how that happened.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
God, un'd percent. God.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I am learning now the why, and I think that's
been really important in the last I've been gone from
ESPN for like fifteen sixteen months after sixteen and a
half years there, which was my ultimate dream when I
was a little girl to work there, and I did it.
I did it at the highest level, and I'm literally
so grateful for every moment there. I wouldn't change any
(05:04):
of it. But I thought, just innocently, you know, gave
my opinion on the COVID vaccine mandate, not the vaccine itself,
but being forced to get the shot to keep my job.
This is in September October of twenty twenty one, so
it's been three years since I said what I said
(05:26):
and then got punished for it.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
What was the punishment when you said, Well, first of all,
what did you say exactly?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I'm sure you've memorized it. I kind of have.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I was on a podcast with Jay Cutler for the
Non Sports fans out there. The former Bears and Broncos
quarterback he would retire and started a new podcast, and
his publicist had said, Hey, he's done two shows.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
He wants to have a woman come on with Jay.
I was like, sure.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I talked about him a lot on Sports Center and
did a bunch of highlights for low lights of his
and Cheryl come on. Seems like a nice guy, and
he was prepared. He did his homework on things that
I had spoken about in the past that maybe weren't
a big deal then, but we're more so in twenty
twenty one, and I had literally just come from getting
(06:10):
the vaccine that I had to get to keep my job,
and I was devastated that I was forced to do
something to my body that I didn't want to, And
so I was running hot and in hindsight, like I
literally came from getting the shot that I cried during
to running home, flip up my laptop and open it
(06:31):
up and get on a zoom and I had a
short sleeve shirt on with a band aid on my
shoulder and literally didn't even really remember realize it because
I was in a rush.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
He's like, what's that band aid?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Oh? He asked you during the show.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
What's the band aid for? Well, I got my shot today.
Speaker 6 (06:47):
I didn't want to do it. I work for a
company that mandates it, and I had until September thirtieth
to get it.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
Done or I'm out.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
I respect everyone's decision, I really do, but to mandate
it is sick.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And then what I was like, I just kind of
laughed because I thought, uh oh, like I was hot.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
I was angry.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I was pissed off that I had been forced to
do this, and so I was like, well, I just
came back from getting my shot. I had to get
to keep my job, and I said, I think it's
sick and scary for any employer, and mine happens to
be Disney, to force somebody to do something to their
body that they don't want.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
But I have a job that I love and.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
A job that I need, frankly, and I had no
choice and I'm complying. That's what I said, sick and
scary about the Disney mandate. And so when the podcast
hit the first week of October twenty twenty one, you know,
I started to get texts and phone calls from bosses
and my agent at the time, and you know, my boss,
(07:54):
who was second in command to ESPN at the time,
was like, did you get permission to do this? I'm
like no, I mean, no one gets permission.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Stephen A. Smith is eight hundred podcasts and shows.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
To talk about your body?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, permission to do a podcast any interview without asking
them first? Okay, you have to ask to breathe there,
and that was part of the official rules, but none
of us really followed them like all that. You know,
I was on a podcast with the former quarterback I
worked in pan It made sense, but we talked about
social issues. Other people were allowed to do whatever they
(08:27):
wanted and I didn't even think about it because everybody
just did their thing and it got big quickly. And
basically it was that I had criticized my employer and
I wasn't allowed to do that. And so the punishment
answer your question was to first of all, publicly apologize.
I had to issue a written statement, which they then
(08:48):
followed up with a statement of their own. So I
was apologizing for criticizing the company. I couldn't say the
word Disney. I could not say Disney. I had to
say the company. That was a mandate. And then I
apologized for putting them in a tough position, I guess,
by talking about the shot. And then they followed up
with a statement of you know, well, while we respect
(09:10):
everyone's opinions, we don't we don't and we're going to
shot her down. And so I got suspended. They don't
like to use that word, but it was suspended with pay,
but suspended, taken off the air for almost two weeks.
And you know, at that time I would have been content,
I guess, with just that. The problem is the punishment
(09:30):
continued and assignments were taken away from me, and I thought, Okay,
I'm going to publicly apologize. I think this is wrong,
but I'm gonna do it because I was scared, and
I was told that if I don't apologize, then I
will be fired. So of course, as a I mean,
I'm divorced, and I'm one hundred percent financially responsible for
(09:53):
everyone in my family, even the one I'm not married
to anymore.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Like, the pressure was immense, and I was scared to death.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Yeah, and it's your dream job, job, you wor.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Work bought off for all those years, thirty years and so,
but the thought of being fired, it was real and
I said, Okay, I'll do whatever it takes. It should
be apology, even though I disagreed on it, and then
sat out for twelve days whatever it was, and then
came back to work and was told, you know how
(10:25):
many people hated me, and I need to call certain
members of my team and coworkers to apologize for other
things I had said too in that podcast about women
being more responsible for what we wear in professional settings,
and that's just my opinion and my experience working in
men's locker rooms for twenty five years. So that's the
reason why everybody hated me at the company, according to bosses,
(10:48):
and then of course defying being defiant by speaking out
against the company even though I followed their shop policy.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
So when they kept taking assignments away though, that's.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Where it broke me because I years to earn them
and to host the Rose Parade in Pasadena every January,
or to host New York City Marathon, or some of
the pieces I've been working on for my new streaming
show that were incredible pieces of human interest with athletes
who opened up and shared their stories in tears with me,
(11:18):
and I was so honored. And then they stopped promoting it,
and that is when I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
The reason I sued, though, is.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Because I thought that was unfair, willing to overlook it
when I saw them allowing my peers, fellow on air
teammates to speak their mind about social political issues, not
just privately or on separate podcasts, but on ESPN airwaves,
to talk about roversus Wade being overturned on an NBA show,
(11:49):
or having a moment of silence for the alleged don't
say gay rules in Florida during women's college basketball tournament.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Which was never said in the bill.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
They took the time to read it and do their homework.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
People would have probably still made up the line because
it worked and they'd get away with it. But it's
one thing to do it on the side, which is
what I did. I thought that was okay to give
my opinion on a shot that I complied with. It's
another thing to say these things on ESPN airwaves, on
a sports channel that has nothing to do with Roe
versus Wade or don't say Gay. The hypocrisy of that
(12:29):
is what made me say enough and call an attorney.
My attorney who's such a dear friend now, Brian Friedman,
who has saved a lot of us who have been
canceled by our networks. And I'll say that to make
that decision to pull the trigger and foul a lawsuit
was one of the scariest moments of my life.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
But I knew.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I knew I had to because I'd been silent and
scared for so long, and I knew that enough was enough.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Where do you get those inner voices from. There's this
thing that we say as educators that the things that
are spoken to you when you were a child become
your inner voices when you become a grown up, and
oftentimes there are the things that are going to build
you or give you courage.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
My faith has grown so much over the last I'd
say six years, you know, on a personal level, when
i had to make the decision to leave my marriage
and I've been married for twenty years almost to the day,
twenty seven years total, first boyfriend.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
I ever had. Wow, that's all I knew. Three beautiful kids.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So in order to get there, I had to dive
deep on my faith, even though it was a scary decision. Obviously,
I'm Catholic, like you don't do that, and I'm not
a quitter, so like, you don't, you don't get divorced.
So that happened to me much more important than the
professional stuff. But when I had dug deep on my
faith with that and talked to my priest and talk
to people I really trusted, and then I learned to
(13:57):
trust myself, and those voices that I know for me
were spiritual. I'm like, if I could get through that,
then I can do this, and so I need to
continue to dive deeper.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
And I.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Really felt like I got so many signs in both
situations personally and professionally to make the decisions that I made.
I also remember being on the floor literally because when
I got suspended for speaking up primarily about that the
vaccine mandate, I'm sitting at home and I then got really, really,
(14:35):
really really sick with COVID, the thing that the shot
was supposed to prevent me from getting. I was literally
on the verge of driving myself to the hospital.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
I was not good.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And then these headlines kept coming out about you know,
all the people were making up lies to become part
of the story of how terrible of a person I am,
And one headline in particular just got me and broke
me for some reason, was on the ground because they
didn't have the energy to get back up. And my
parents had driven up from Pennsylvania because I knew I
was scared and alone and sick and they shouldn't have come.
(15:10):
My dad has two kinds of cancer and this is
twenty twenty one and COVID and you're not supposed to
be around. And it's proof that when you know, as parents,
would do whatever it takes. And so they came and
got their fifth year old daughter up off the floor
and was like, you're not gonna let this break you.
So my parents, who've been through so much just to
(15:32):
you know, survive as an interracial couple in the early
nineteen seventies, like so much bigger than what I've been through.
When I saw them walk in and help me, and
then thinking about what they'd been through, and finally thinking
about the prayer that my dad had just thrilled unto
us as kids, I knew I had to do this
(15:55):
and that prayer. He's a nineteen seventy West Point graduate,
and as kids, I have two younger brothers. He made
us memorized part of the Cadet prayer, and that part
is helped me to choose the harder right instead of
the easier wrong, and to never be content with a
half truth when the whole truth can be one.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
So the harder right.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I was so annoyed that I knew what the heart
to right was because I knew I couldn't be silent
like no more, I've been silent in my whole life
and so afraid to stand up afraid for good reason.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Look what happened when I was just being myself.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
God forbid. You can be yourself in every other way.
You can be a girl today, a boy tomorrow, and
a cat on Thursday. Right, that's fine, But I couldn't
be a conservative with I guess my gender and my
skin color. So I knew what the heart of right was.
And then I you know, the second half.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Of that prayer.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
I could never be content if I was only telling
the half truth, because the whole truth was right here.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
So that's stupid prayer that he made me memorize.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
My stupid prayer, same like was right before my eyes,
and I preached that to my kids too. So if
I didn't follow that at my lowest, most vulnerable point,
when my little sports world was watching and laughing because
I'd been silenced, which is what they wanted. Then shame
on me, and I'm a hypocrite. So that faith that
(17:23):
came with all the things, and in particular that prayer
that had got me through so much when I was
thinking about getting divorced, then I knew I would have
to forever be quiet, and I could not do that.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
There is just something that you said that keeps ringing
in my head, and that was you made a comment
while you were working for ESPN about how women were
more were supposed to focus more on what they were
than what they say, and they get upset that you
said that, Yet they wanted to control you and make
sure that you don't say what they don't want.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
You to say.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
You're right, So how did your colleagues and friends twenty
plus years of work react to you speaking out?
Speaker 5 (18:06):
The silence was deafening.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
They didn't call you in secret and say stage we're
behind you, we get it. No, we're sorry, We're sorry
this is happening to you. We can't say anything publicly,
but we're going to put a big hat on and
come and support you. There wasn't even support behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
No, I will admit that that part is still hard,
you know, especially some of the young women who came
after me at IDIOESPN, and you know, i'd been there
a few years, and I really it was important to
me to welcome them because I had not felt welcomed
when I started in two thousand and seven, a different
(18:44):
era completely all together. And I had gone about for
some of those women when they were going through some
things or just had questions, and so for them to
I never expected anybody to publicly support me because I
know what comes with that. That is scary and it
could be career suicide. So I never expected that it
was the human level. It was just that human part
(19:06):
of like just we're friends and just you see that
I'm broken right now, just to reach out and just
you know. And so to not have that part that
that changed me.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Hardened me for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
And now I'm glad because gosh, my circle is a
lot smaller and healthier.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
And I needed that.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Because it was probably too big because I've always been
the I just try to do too much. I'm still
working on that, but like such a pleaser in every way,
and I want to make sure. I wanted to make
sure these other young women didn't feel the way I
did coming in as a young mother. When I started
at ESPN, my kids were eleven months old, two and four,
and this is an O seven, this is you know,
it was still very much a boys club. And then
(19:50):
the girls, the women who were there were not the nicest,
that's for damn sure. So I just never wanted others
to feel that way. And then before I knew it,
I was one of the veterans, and so I was like,
let me help them, and then I went to bat
for a lot of them, and then silence. I wouldn't
ever change it, though, I will continue to go to
(20:10):
bat for any young woman or man, because I know
what it feels like when no one does that for
you when you need it, when you're not asking for something,
but you're just scared, because this is an ugly industry,
you know. So I promise you I have no regrets.
There's no bitterness at all from those women who chose
to stay silent and men. My best friends were men silent.
(20:32):
But that's because they're afraid. And I know that it
takes a lot to push through that fear, so I
respect it. But I also I'm like, okay, onward then,
you know, and I'm glad. And it also taught me
how few people do have strength, and again I get it.
(20:53):
But I know now that I need to be around
like minded people, not necessarily people who are going to go,
you know, drop and see their company, you know, especially
when you're still working there, which is another thing was
kind of crazy and unique about my situation.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
But I can't. Oh, I can't handle weakness. I can't,
you know.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
It's the other thing is being around real people who
want to live a real life. And so there are
two components to that. One is these people are not real,
they're not authentic. The friendship is not real and authentic
because when my friends hurt, I hurt. But the other
part of it is that they are not living a
real life. I mean, they're controlled, they can't say what
(21:35):
they know, they have to live in fear, and that
that must be very heavy for them as well.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
I know it is because it was for me, and
I felt like I didn't have a choice for a
long time either because of the financial obligations.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
I told you, well, they'll give you the lollipop and
just take it away, and so you're like, give it
back to me.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
And they're like, well, we'll give it back to you
if if right.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
It is the gold and handcuffs in many ways, and
especially when you've this is your childhood dream and you've
worked your whole life, and it takes a long time.
It used to take a long time to really build
to get there, especially once you achieved that childhood dream,
Like are you gonna throw it away over this or that?
So I understand more than anyone, but at the end
of the day, you know, for a while, and even
(22:18):
with my decision to take the vaccine to get the shot,
which I.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Still really struggle with, I felt like I caved. I
really am.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I've forgiven myself because I had to do what I
had to do at that moment to survive three years ago,
a very different time than now, certainly, and companies have stopped.
It's magic, right, how all of a sudden, nobody's forcing
it and it just goes away, like oh, I just
want to you know.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
And by the way, those who are on the other
side of it, do not look at you with this
thing that you need to carry some sort of shame, right,
And everybody should just make their own decisions.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
That's all we wanted so I said to Maxiny.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Make your own decision, and if you made the decision,
then you changed your mind.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
That's okay too.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Is it was more for me, such a principled person
in so many ways. But again there's there's fear, and
I literally didn't know what I was gonna do. So well,
people sit and thank you, and I'm better now it's
been three years. But when people say to me, you
had a choice and you chose to do it, they're right.
I did make that choice, which is why I understand
(23:22):
the fear.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
But I also know this. It will eat you up.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
The fear will eat you up, and the silencing, at
least in my experience, it'll eat you up. And that's
kind of what it did. So when I made the
decision to speak up, I threw it all away. I
had an incredible contract at ESPN and a relatively speaking
(23:49):
in that way, easy life with a good schedule, high pressure,
a lot of stress, all the things. But like, I
did throw it all away, and I did not have
an idea where my next page was coming from, and
I'm still working on that. So I get the fear thing,
but I also I'm like, okay, that's on you. Then,
because you're never gonna there will never be a perfect
(24:10):
time to take that leap and to really take a
chance on yourself and just go for it. And without
my faith full circle, without my faith, I would never have.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Been able to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
And I have seen Marsa that like, the more I
have let go of control, especially in the last like
six months, the beautiful things that are happening are insane,
and I am so grateful.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
I get emotionalized.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I live down in South Florida now, and I sold
my house in Connecticut and sold everything in it, like
literally everything, put some stuff in storage, and got in
my little car and drove twenty three hours down here
to start a new life by myself. And it was scary,
but like I shudder at the thought of what had
happened if I had stayed comfortable and stayed fearful and
(24:58):
with good reason to stay comfortable and to just keep
it all perfect. Never a good time. And I'm so
passionate now about sharing that and how you can push
through fear even when you're responsible for an entire family,
And I just I'm so grateful. What if I hadn't
And then I'm preaching to my kids to take chances
(25:19):
and believe in themselves and then I'm going to sit quiet,
total hypocrite. So now I'm just winging it. That's kind
of fun.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Yeah, well, I mean it is such an amazing feeling
to feel free, right, It's worth more than any money.
You read the Bible, the Old Testament. You talk about
leaving your Egypt, right, that was your Egypt. In Egypt,
things were comfortable, and you know there was food, and
you know what's going to happen tomorrow. But then when
you have the courage to get over it and just
(25:46):
keep going and listen to God and listen to and
tap into yourself, that is really the meaning of everything
we were chatting earlier, where I told you I don't
work out enough and I don't eat that healthy, and
what I think sustains me, well, one is sleep, because
I think it's really important.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
But more than anything, I think it's meaning. Meaning. Meaning
is my medicine.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
And I think that when you are able to live
a free life, you can truly live a meaningful life
because you can tap into what God really wants you
to do.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
And I really do believe that.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
You're on the journey to do what you're meant to do.
I've been watching what you've been doing over the last
few months, the last few years, and just the transformation
that has happened in your personal life and in your
career is so worth sharing. And before we walked in here,
(26:37):
I just in full disclosure, I kind of encouraged you
to speak about what happened several years ago. And you know,
you're like, oh, well, what happened to ESPN. It was
a long time ago, and I've been on so many
shows and I've talked about this and people may know
about it anyway, it's a thing of the past. And
you know, my point is, no, it is not a
thing of the past. What you went through a few
years ago. People are going through every day right now.
(27:00):
And also the way you look at what you've gone
through a few years ago will be viewed by you
a little differently now because you have been touched in
so many ways. Your heart has expanded, your mind has expanded,
your visibility has expanded. That the new perspective that you
have now about what you went through a few years
(27:20):
ago is a whole other level.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
You're right, and I needed that encouragement from you, my
fear and continue to speak about. It has literally only
been because my fear of being perceived as oh, she
wants sympathy or woe is me? And uh yeah, and
that's why I'm like, no, no, no, that's not me,
that's not what it is. Yeah, And you know, like
(27:42):
I literally just don't want anyone else to live in
fear for so long. And I want the reason I
filed the damn lawsuit is because I want these companies
to know that we will know longer accept it because
that's what they bank.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Yeah, and it's worked.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It's worked incredibly well to just do what they said
to me, like be quiet, say this, do this, sign
this or else, and there's reason for us to listen,
but absolutely not. And the strength that has come from that,
I mean, I will say, I think that's probably when
I look back on the experience itself, from the moment
(28:23):
I got suspended to the moment I settled with Espian
Disney with twenty two months. So once I got back
from suspension, I mean I was on the air for
twenty two months, sixteen months with an act of lawsuit
against the.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Very company who had to go in there every day.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Every day, every single day. So I think if I
look back, because when you're in it, you're just like, Oh.
That's probably what I'm most proud of, because I felt
sick to my stomach every day for twenty two months
and especially the sixteen months once I filed the lawsuit,
and to walk back in there the next day after
it had hit that I'm suing Disney ESPN. Like nobody
(29:03):
he does usually wait to sue somebody after you're gone,
but I I couldn't. I didn't have that luxury. It
had to be kind of now or never. So I
think you would like this though, because when my parents
came and lifted me off the ground, and like all
the the day I went back to work, my best
friend was there, Tiffany, who was also my makeup bars,
who had a lot to fix that day and every
(29:25):
day since there, and my mom and dad were there,
and my dad was a former football player, amazing, amazing,
went back to his football modes. Okay, girls, and I'm
getting ready to walk out the door to drive to work,
to go back your time.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
The first time you and your interest, your your friends
were not sponsor of our show, and it wasn't listening
to their stuff. And we're big fans and this.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Right and already hard to write.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
By going back into work and not just running away
saying I need some.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Time and encourage you to support them.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Street instructions or Catholics out there.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
That doctor Scott the White House basically protecting you, he
put it.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
He wants to see how powerful Washington figures.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Around me, able to walk into any scenarios politicized, monetized,
depend From that moment on, when I walked out the
door shaped.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
One knows face, like many.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
People died because of censorship, dishonesty, and the demon is
a I left of medical.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Decision, I felt protected.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
And so every day I would drive to work, and
they lived in Pennsylvania at the time. My parents said
I'd call them when I pulled into the parking lot
and I put my mess hare on before I walked
in those doors, and we would be on speakerphone and
say that prayer to protect me when I walked in.
So I felt sick every day, but I walked in
there and I did feel like I could do it.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
I found this strength.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
And it's crazy because I feel like sixteen and a
half years there, those last twenty two months, I did
my best work like I was the I feel like,
because I've always been super critical of my work, especially
you know, two hours of live TV every day.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Is a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
I felt so calm and so strong, and I trusted
my instincts even more doing the live stuff and the
interviews and winging it with highlights.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
You're like, God's with you.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
The more people came at me, the more calm I felt,
and the better I did. I didn't realize it in
the moment, but I look back now and I'm like,
how the heck did I go in there knowing that,
like Bob Iger and everybody literally was trying to crush
me and bleed me dry financially with this stupid lawsuit.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
So I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
And that's why I can't shut up about it, because
too many people feel scared to death of their companies
based on the pressures, you know, to raise a family
or stay alive medical bills to pay Like, I get it,
but just know that you are not alone. There are
millions of people out there who have felt scared like
I did and just stay quiet, and that's what they
(32:06):
bank on it. And if we continue to do that,
then I think it's on us like at some point
that's on me if I choose to stay silent.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
So I got to.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Help make people not be silent and realize we're in
this together. And the more we speak up, the more
they will realize they don't have the strength they think
that they do.
Speaker 5 (32:22):
We are powerful.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
If you like the Michael Berry Show and Podcast, please
tell one friend, and if you're so inclined, write a
nice review of our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions, and interest
in being a corporate sponsor and partner can be communicated
directly to the show at our email address, Michael at
(32:45):
Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking on our website,
Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry Show and Podcast
is produced by Ramon Roeblis, the King of Ding. Executive
producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.
(33:09):
Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery, and Shenanigans are provided by Chance MacLean.
Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily Bull is our
assistant listener and superfan. Contributions are appreciated and often incorporated
into our production. Where possible, we give credit, where not,
(33:32):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the
memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis, be a simple
man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and God bless America. Finally,
if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp
Hope at eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD and
(33:57):
a combat veteran will answer the phone to provide free counseling.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
H
The Michael Berry Show. In addition to being a beautiful woman,
Sage Steele is a very talented woman. She was a
talented broadcaster at ESPN, where she was a sports center anchor,
and where she was a woman in a man's world.
She came into the sporting world as a woman pretty
early in that phase. And I've never been a big
(00:22):
fan of women in men's sports. I don't care if
you don't like me for that. I think a lot
of men feel that way. They just won't be honest
with you about it. I've always found it to be
a distraction, and I've always found that the networks are
trying too hard to show us that women can talk
about sports. Of course they can, but must they? Is
(00:43):
that really necessary? But I've always felt that Sage Steele
wasn't a distraction. She was never trying to be you know,
look at me, I'm so smart. She actually fit in
like one of the guys. And I will tell you
that I consider that to be a great compliment. Again,
I realize that saying that will annoy a lot of people.
I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to be honest,
(01:04):
and I would hope you would respect at least that,
But when the woke got to be too much, Sage
Steele stood up to it and it cost her her career.
Now she pivoted, she does other things. She's also a mom,
she's now podcasting. But I think she has developed a
(01:24):
whole new fan base of people who deeply respect her.
And that's different than being a SportsCenter anchor an ESPN
just talking about sports. I think people admire Sage Steele
because I do so. Here she is telling her story
of how she took on ESPN's woke culture, sue Disney,
which owns ESPN, and reclaimed her life. This week we
(01:49):
seek to amplify the story of Sage Steele. Here she
is talking about how she found strength to take on
one of the world's most powerful companies and the lessons
she learned. I hope you'll amplify her story and share
it with others, and I hope it will inspire you
to be brave and bold as she has been and
continues to be.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
How did this shy kid who just wanted to talk
about sports for a living sue the Walt Disney Company
in ESPN to stand up for freedom of speech and
Fourth Moment rights like I don't know how that happened. God,
one hundred percent. God.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
When you do the right thing, you suddenly have more
hours in the day. It's really unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
The reason I filed the damn lawsuit is because I
want these companies to know that we will know longer
accept it.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Do you think America is a racist country? Is it?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I get so mad when people say that you can
be a girl today, a boy tomorrow, and a cat
on Thursday. Right, That's fine, but I couldn't be a
conservative with my gender and my skin color. Too many
people feel scared to death of their companies, Like, I
get it, but just know that you.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Are not alone, Sage Steele.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Let's have the conversation we had in the green room
right here over in front of the whole world.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
Buckle up, buscle.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So for those who are living under a rock and
don't know about your story, I want to just get
right into it. And I actually think it's going to
be so fascinating to walk through your story now, several
years later, where you can really talk about everything. There's
another little Sage Steel somewhere out there who is probably
going through what you have gone through and has no guidance,
(03:26):
has little courage and doesn't really have a role model
to follow to note that things will be okay.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
And boy, you are okay. You are okay.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And so I want the little sage steel and I'm
sure they're both women and men to hear what you
went through and how you came out of it an
absolute warrior.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
First of all, thank you and thank you for inviting me.
Conversations are what life is about for me today and
always have. It's always what it's been like. But I
was never really allowed to, you know, and you work
on live news show. I was in Sports Center for
all those years, and it's like I gotta go, go, go,
go go, And so it's been awesome to be able
to do it on my own show, and to be
(04:07):
able to do this with you, like I never thought
to be allowed to.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
This is a big deal.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
To be able to actually talk forget about cameras and
just go It was a I ended up so crazy.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
How did this shy kid believe or not?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
And I still feel that way sometimes I get shy
and I have to like.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Flip the switch.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
How did this shy kid who just wanted to talk
about sports for a living and tell stories of great
athletes and their why sue Walt, the Walt Disney Company
and ESPN to stand up for her freedom of speech
and first moment rights, like I don't know how that happened.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
God, un'd percent. God.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I am learning now the why, and I think that's
been really important in the last I've been gone from
ESPN for like fifteen sixteen months after sixteen and a
half years there, which was my ultimate dream when I
was a little girl to work there, and I did it.
I did it at the highest level, and I'm literally
so grateful for every moment there. I wouldn't change any
(05:04):
of it. But I thought, just innocently, you know, gave
my opinion on the COVID vaccine mandate, not the vaccine itself,
but being forced to get the shot to keep my job.
This is in September October of twenty twenty one, so
it's been three years since I said what I said
(05:26):
and then got punished for it.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
What was the punishment when you said, Well, first of all,
what did you say exactly?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I'm sure you've memorized it. I kind of have.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I was on a podcast with Jay Cutler for the
Non Sports fans out there. The former Bears and Broncos
quarterback he would retire and started a new podcast, and
his publicist had said, Hey, he's done two shows.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
He wants to have a woman come on with Jay.
I was like, sure.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I talked about him a lot on Sports Center and
did a bunch of highlights for low lights of his
and Cheryl come on. Seems like a nice guy, and
he was prepared. He did his homework on things that
I had spoken about in the past that maybe weren't
a big deal then, but we're more so in twenty
twenty one, and I had literally just come from getting
(06:10):
the vaccine that I had to get to keep my job,
and I was devastated that I was forced to do
something to my body that I didn't want to, And
so I was running hot and in hindsight, like I
literally came from getting the shot that I cried during
to running home, flip up my laptop and open it
(06:31):
up and get on a zoom and I had a
short sleeve shirt on with a band aid on my
shoulder and literally didn't even really remember realize it because
I was in a rush.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
He's like, what's that band aid?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Oh? He asked you during the show.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
What's the band aid for? Well, I got my shot today.
Speaker 6 (06:47):
I didn't want to do it. I work for a
company that mandates it, and I had until September thirtieth
to get it.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
Done or I'm out.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
I respect everyone's decision, I really do, but to mandate
it is sick.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And then what I was like, I just kind of
laughed because I thought, uh oh, like I was hot.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
I was angry.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I was pissed off that I had been forced to
do this, and so I was like, well, I just
came back from getting my shot. I had to get
to keep my job, and I said, I think it's
sick and scary for any employer, and mine happens to
be Disney, to force somebody to do something to their
body that they don't want.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
But I have a job that I love and.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
A job that I need, frankly, and I had no
choice and I'm complying. That's what I said, sick and
scary about the Disney mandate. And so when the podcast
hit the first week of October twenty twenty one, you know,
I started to get texts and phone calls from bosses
and my agent at the time, and you know, my boss,
(07:54):
who was second in command to ESPN at the time,
was like, did you get permission to do this? I'm
like no, I mean, no one gets permission.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Stephen A. Smith is eight hundred podcasts and shows.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
To talk about your body?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, permission to do a podcast any interview without asking
them first? Okay, you have to ask to breathe there,
and that was part of the official rules, but none
of us really followed them like all that. You know,
I was on a podcast with the former quarterback I
worked in pan It made sense, but we talked about
social issues. Other people were allowed to do whatever they
(08:27):
wanted and I didn't even think about it because everybody
just did their thing and it got big quickly. And
basically it was that I had criticized my employer and
I wasn't allowed to do that. And so the punishment
answer your question was to first of all, publicly apologize.
I had to issue a written statement, which they then
(08:48):
followed up with a statement of their own. So I
was apologizing for criticizing the company. I couldn't say the
word Disney. I could not say Disney. I had to
say the company. That was a mandate. And then I
apologized for putting them in a tough position, I guess,
by talking about the shot. And then they followed up
with a statement of you know, well, while we respect
(09:10):
everyone's opinions, we don't we don't and we're going to
shot her down. And so I got suspended. They don't
like to use that word, but it was suspended with pay,
but suspended, taken off the air for almost two weeks.
And you know, at that time I would have been content,
I guess, with just that. The problem is the punishment
(09:30):
continued and assignments were taken away from me, and I thought, Okay,
I'm going to publicly apologize. I think this is wrong,
but I'm gonna do it because I was scared, and
I was told that if I don't apologize, then I
will be fired. So of course, as a I mean,
I'm divorced, and I'm one hundred percent financially responsible for
(09:53):
everyone in my family, even the one I'm not married
to anymore.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Like, the pressure was immense, and I was scared to death.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Yeah, and it's your dream job, job, you wor.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Work bought off for all those years, thirty years and so,
but the thought of being fired, it was real and
I said, Okay, I'll do whatever it takes. It should
be apology, even though I disagreed on it, and then
sat out for twelve days whatever it was, and then
came back to work and was told, you know how
(10:25):
many people hated me, and I need to call certain
members of my team and coworkers to apologize for other
things I had said too in that podcast about women
being more responsible for what we wear in professional settings,
and that's just my opinion and my experience working in
men's locker rooms for twenty five years. So that's the
reason why everybody hated me at the company, according to bosses,
(10:48):
and then of course defying being defiant by speaking out
against the company even though I followed their shop policy.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
So when they kept taking assignments away though, that's.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Where it broke me because I years to earn them
and to host the Rose Parade in Pasadena every January,
or to host New York City Marathon, or some of
the pieces I've been working on for my new streaming
show that were incredible pieces of human interest with athletes
who opened up and shared their stories in tears with me,
(11:18):
and I was so honored. And then they stopped promoting it,
and that is when I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
The reason I sued, though, is.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Because I thought that was unfair, willing to overlook it
when I saw them allowing my peers, fellow on air
teammates to speak their mind about social political issues, not
just privately or on separate podcasts, but on ESPN airwaves,
to talk about roversus Wade being overturned on an NBA show,
(11:49):
or having a moment of silence for the alleged don't
say gay rules in Florida during women's college basketball tournament.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Which was never said in the bill.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
They took the time to read it and do their homework.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
People would have probably still made up the line because
it worked and they'd get away with it. But it's
one thing to do it on the side, which is
what I did. I thought that was okay to give
my opinion on a shot that I complied with. It's
another thing to say these things on ESPN airwaves, on
a sports channel that has nothing to do with Roe
versus Wade or don't say Gay. The hypocrisy of that
(12:29):
is what made me say enough and call an attorney.
My attorney who's such a dear friend now, Brian Friedman,
who has saved a lot of us who have been
canceled by our networks. And I'll say that to make
that decision to pull the trigger and foul a lawsuit
was one of the scariest moments of my life.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
But I knew.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I knew I had to because I'd been silent and
scared for so long, and I knew that enough was enough.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Where do you get those inner voices from. There's this
thing that we say as educators that the things that
are spoken to you when you were a child become
your inner voices when you become a grown up, and
oftentimes there are the things that are going to build
you or give you courage.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
My faith has grown so much over the last I'd
say six years, you know, on a personal level, when
i had to make the decision to leave my marriage
and I've been married for twenty years almost to the day,
twenty seven years total, first boyfriend.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
I ever had. Wow, that's all I knew. Three beautiful kids.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So in order to get there, I had to dive
deep on my faith, even though it was a scary decision. Obviously,
I'm Catholic, like you don't do that, and I'm not
a quitter, so like, you don't, you don't get divorced.
So that happened to me much more important than the
professional stuff. But when I had dug deep on my
faith with that and talked to my priest and talk
to people I really trusted, and then I learned to
(13:57):
trust myself, and those voices that I know for me
were spiritual. I'm like, if I could get through that,
then I can do this, and so I need to
continue to dive deeper.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
And I.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Really felt like I got so many signs in both
situations personally and professionally to make the decisions that I made.
I also remember being on the floor literally because when
I got suspended for speaking up primarily about that the
vaccine mandate, I'm sitting at home and I then got really, really,
(14:35):
really really sick with COVID, the thing that the shot
was supposed to prevent me from getting. I was literally
on the verge of driving myself to the hospital.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
I was not good.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And then these headlines kept coming out about you know,
all the people were making up lies to become part
of the story of how terrible of a person I am,
And one headline in particular just got me and broke
me for some reason, was on the ground because they
didn't have the energy to get back up. And my
parents had driven up from Pennsylvania because I knew I
was scared and alone and sick and they shouldn't have come.
(15:10):
My dad has two kinds of cancer and this is
twenty twenty one and COVID and you're not supposed to
be around. And it's proof that when you know, as parents,
would do whatever it takes. And so they came and
got their fifth year old daughter up off the floor
and was like, you're not gonna let this break you.
So my parents, who've been through so much just to
(15:32):
you know, survive as an interracial couple in the early
nineteen seventies, like so much bigger than what I've been through.
When I saw them walk in and help me, and
then thinking about what they'd been through, and finally thinking
about the prayer that my dad had just thrilled unto
us as kids, I knew I had to do this
(15:55):
and that prayer. He's a nineteen seventy West Point graduate,
and as kids, I have two younger brothers. He made
us memorized part of the Cadet prayer, and that part
is helped me to choose the harder right instead of
the easier wrong, and to never be content with a
half truth when the whole truth can be one.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
So the harder right.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I was so annoyed that I knew what the heart
to right was because I knew I couldn't be silent
like no more, I've been silent in my whole life
and so afraid to stand up afraid for good reason.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Look what happened when I was just being myself.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
God forbid. You can be yourself in every other way.
You can be a girl today, a boy tomorrow, and
a cat on Thursday. Right, that's fine, But I couldn't
be a conservative with I guess my gender and my
skin color. So I knew what the heart of right was.
And then I you know, the second half.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Of that prayer.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
I could never be content if I was only telling
the half truth, because the whole truth was right here.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
So that's stupid prayer that he made me memorize.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
My stupid prayer, same like was right before my eyes,
and I preached that to my kids too. So if
I didn't follow that at my lowest, most vulnerable point,
when my little sports world was watching and laughing because
I'd been silenced, which is what they wanted. Then shame
on me, and I'm a hypocrite. So that faith that
(17:23):
came with all the things, and in particular that prayer
that had got me through so much when I was
thinking about getting divorced, then I knew I would have
to forever be quiet, and I could not do that.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
There is just something that you said that keeps ringing
in my head, and that was you made a comment
while you were working for ESPN about how women were
more were supposed to focus more on what they were
than what they say, and they get upset that you
said that, Yet they wanted to control you and make
sure that you don't say what they don't want.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
You to say.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
You're right, So how did your colleagues and friends twenty
plus years of work react to you speaking out?
Speaker 5 (18:06):
The silence was deafening.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
They didn't call you in secret and say stage we're
behind you, we get it. No, we're sorry, We're sorry
this is happening to you. We can't say anything publicly,
but we're going to put a big hat on and
come and support you. There wasn't even support behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
No, I will admit that that part is still hard,
you know, especially some of the young women who came
after me at IDIOESPN, and you know, i'd been there
a few years, and I really it was important to
me to welcome them because I had not felt welcomed
when I started in two thousand and seven, a different
(18:44):
era completely all together. And I had gone about for
some of those women when they were going through some
things or just had questions, and so for them to
I never expected anybody to publicly support me because I
know what comes with that. That is scary and it
could be career suicide. So I never expected that it
was the human level. It was just that human part
(19:06):
of like just we're friends and just you see that
I'm broken right now, just to reach out and just
you know. And so to not have that part that
that changed me.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Hardened me for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
And now I'm glad because gosh, my circle is a
lot smaller and healthier.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
And I needed that.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Because it was probably too big because I've always been
the I just try to do too much. I'm still
working on that, but like such a pleaser in every way,
and I want to make sure. I wanted to make
sure these other young women didn't feel the way I
did coming in as a young mother. When I started
at ESPN, my kids were eleven months old, two and four,
and this is an O seven, this is you know,
it was still very much a boys club. And then
(19:50):
the girls, the women who were there were not the nicest,
that's for damn sure. So I just never wanted others
to feel that way. And then before I knew it,
I was one of the veterans, and so I was like,
let me help them, and then I went to bat
for a lot of them, and then silence. I wouldn't
ever change it, though, I will continue to go to
(20:10):
bat for any young woman or man, because I know
what it feels like when no one does that for
you when you need it, when you're not asking for something,
but you're just scared, because this is an ugly industry,
you know. So I promise you I have no regrets.
There's no bitterness at all from those women who chose
to stay silent and men. My best friends were men silent.
(20:32):
But that's because they're afraid. And I know that it
takes a lot to push through that fear, so I
respect it. But I also I'm like, okay, onward then,
you know, and I'm glad. And it also taught me
how few people do have strength, and again I get it.
(20:53):
But I know now that I need to be around
like minded people, not necessarily people who are going to go,
you know, drop and see their company, you know, especially
when you're still working there, which is another thing was
kind of crazy and unique about my situation.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
But I can't. Oh, I can't handle weakness. I can't,
you know.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
It's the other thing is being around real people who
want to live a real life. And so there are
two components to that. One is these people are not real,
they're not authentic. The friendship is not real and authentic
because when my friends hurt, I hurt. But the other
part of it is that they are not living a
real life. I mean, they're controlled, they can't say what
(21:35):
they know, they have to live in fear, and that
that must be very heavy for them as well.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
I know it is because it was for me, and
I felt like I didn't have a choice for a
long time either because of the financial obligations.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
I told you, well, they'll give you the lollipop and
just take it away, and so you're like, give it
back to me.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
And they're like, well, we'll give it back to you
if if right.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
It is the gold and handcuffs in many ways, and
especially when you've this is your childhood dream and you've
worked your whole life, and it takes a long time.
It used to take a long time to really build
to get there, especially once you achieved that childhood dream,
Like are you gonna throw it away over this or that?
So I understand more than anyone, but at the end
of the day, you know, for a while, and even
(22:18):
with my decision to take the vaccine to get the shot,
which I.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Still really struggle with, I felt like I caved. I
really am.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I've forgiven myself because I had to do what I
had to do at that moment to survive three years ago,
a very different time than now, certainly, and companies have stopped.
It's magic, right, how all of a sudden, nobody's forcing
it and it just goes away, like oh, I just
want to you know.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
And by the way, those who are on the other
side of it, do not look at you with this
thing that you need to carry some sort of shame, right,
And everybody should just make their own decisions.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
That's all we wanted so I said to Maxiny.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Make your own decision, and if you made the decision,
then you changed your mind.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
That's okay too.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Is it was more for me, such a principled person
in so many ways. But again there's there's fear, and
I literally didn't know what I was gonna do. So well,
people sit and thank you, and I'm better now it's
been three years. But when people say to me, you
had a choice and you chose to do it, they're right.
I did make that choice, which is why I understand
(23:22):
the fear.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
But I also know this. It will eat you up.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
The fear will eat you up, and the silencing, at
least in my experience, it'll eat you up. And that's
kind of what it did. So when I made the
decision to speak up, I threw it all away. I
had an incredible contract at ESPN and a relatively speaking
(23:49):
in that way, easy life with a good schedule, high pressure,
a lot of stress, all the things. But like, I
did throw it all away, and I did not have
an idea where my next page was coming from, and
I'm still working on that. So I get the fear thing,
but I also I'm like, okay, that's on you. Then,
because you're never gonna there will never be a perfect
(24:10):
time to take that leap and to really take a
chance on yourself and just go for it. And without
my faith full circle, without my faith, I would never have.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Been able to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
And I have seen Marsa that like, the more I
have let go of control, especially in the last like
six months, the beautiful things that are happening are insane,
and I am so grateful.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
I get emotionalized.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I live down in South Florida now, and I sold
my house in Connecticut and sold everything in it, like
literally everything, put some stuff in storage, and got in
my little car and drove twenty three hours down here
to start a new life by myself. And it was scary,
but like I shudder at the thought of what had
happened if I had stayed comfortable and stayed fearful and
(24:58):
with good reason to stay comfortable and to just keep
it all perfect. Never a good time. And I'm so
passionate now about sharing that and how you can push
through fear even when you're responsible for an entire family,
And I just I'm so grateful. What if I hadn't
And then I'm preaching to my kids to take chances
(25:19):
and believe in themselves and then I'm going to sit quiet,
total hypocrite. So now I'm just winging it. That's kind
of fun.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Yeah, well, I mean it is such an amazing feeling
to feel free, right, It's worth more than any money.
You read the Bible, the Old Testament. You talk about
leaving your Egypt, right, that was your Egypt. In Egypt,
things were comfortable, and you know there was food, and
you know what's going to happen tomorrow. But then when
you have the courage to get over it and just
(25:46):
keep going and listen to God and listen to and
tap into yourself, that is really the meaning of everything
we were chatting earlier, where I told you I don't
work out enough and I don't eat that healthy, and
what I think sustains me, well, one is sleep, because
I think it's really important.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
But more than anything, I think it's meaning. Meaning. Meaning
is my medicine.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
And I think that when you are able to live
a free life, you can truly live a meaningful life
because you can tap into what God really wants you
to do.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
And I really do believe that.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
You're on the journey to do what you're meant to do.
I've been watching what you've been doing over the last
few months, the last few years, and just the transformation
that has happened in your personal life and in your
career is so worth sharing. And before we walked in here,
(26:37):
I just in full disclosure, I kind of encouraged you
to speak about what happened several years ago. And you know,
you're like, oh, well, what happened to ESPN. It was
a long time ago, and I've been on so many
shows and I've talked about this and people may know
about it anyway, it's a thing of the past. And
you know, my point is, no, it is not a
thing of the past. What you went through a few
years ago. People are going through every day right now.
(27:00):
And also the way you look at what you've gone
through a few years ago will be viewed by you
a little differently now because you have been touched in
so many ways. Your heart has expanded, your mind has expanded,
your visibility has expanded. That the new perspective that you
have now about what you went through a few years
(27:20):
ago is a whole other level.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
You're right, and I needed that encouragement from you, my
fear and continue to speak about. It has literally only
been because my fear of being perceived as oh, she
wants sympathy or woe is me? And uh yeah, and
that's why I'm like, no, no, no, that's not me,
that's not what it is. Yeah, And you know, like
(27:42):
I literally just don't want anyone else to live in
fear for so long. And I want the reason I
filed the damn lawsuit is because I want these companies
to know that we will know longer accept it because
that's what they bank.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Yeah, and it's worked.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It's worked incredibly well to just do what they said
to me, like be quiet, say this, do this, sign
this or else, and there's reason for us to listen,
but absolutely not. And the strength that has come from that,
I mean, I will say, I think that's probably when
I look back on the experience itself, from the moment
(28:23):
I got suspended to the moment I settled with Espian
Disney with twenty two months. So once I got back
from suspension, I mean I was on the air for
twenty two months, sixteen months with an act of lawsuit
against the.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Very company who had to go in there every day.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Every day, every single day. So I think if I
look back, because when you're in it, you're just like, Oh.
That's probably what I'm most proud of, because I felt
sick to my stomach every day for twenty two months
and especially the sixteen months once I filed the lawsuit,
and to walk back in there the next day after
it had hit that I'm suing Disney ESPN. Like nobody
(29:03):
he does usually wait to sue somebody after you're gone,
but I I couldn't. I didn't have that luxury. It
had to be kind of now or never. So I
think you would like this though, because when my parents
came and lifted me off the ground, and like all
the the day I went back to work, my best
friend was there, Tiffany, who was also my makeup bars,
who had a lot to fix that day and every
(29:25):
day since there, and my mom and dad were there,
and my dad was a former football player, amazing, amazing,
went back to his football modes. Okay, girls, and I'm
getting ready to walk out the door to drive to work,
to go back your time.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
The first time you and your interest, your your friends
were not sponsor of our show, and it wasn't listening
to their stuff. And we're big fans and this.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Right and already hard to write.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
By going back into work and not just running away
saying I need some.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Time and encourage you to support them.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Street instructions or Catholics out there.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
That doctor Scott the White House basically protecting you, he
put it.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
He wants to see how powerful Washington figures.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Around me, able to walk into any scenarios politicized, monetized,
depend From that moment on, when I walked out the
door shaped.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
One knows face, like many.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
People died because of censorship, dishonesty, and the demon is
a I left of medical.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Decision, I felt protected.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
And so every day I would drive to work, and
they lived in Pennsylvania at the time. My parents said
I'd call them when I pulled into the parking lot
and I put my mess hare on before I walked
in those doors, and we would be on speakerphone and
say that prayer to protect me when I walked in.
So I felt sick every day, but I walked in
there and I did feel like I could do it.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
I found this strength.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
And it's crazy because I feel like sixteen and a
half years there, those last twenty two months, I did
my best work like I was the I feel like,
because I've always been super critical of my work, especially
you know, two hours of live TV every day.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Is a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
I felt so calm and so strong, and I trusted
my instincts even more doing the live stuff and the
interviews and winging it with highlights.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
You're like, God's with you.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
The more people came at me, the more calm I felt,
and the better I did. I didn't realize it in
the moment, but I look back now and I'm like,
how the heck did I go in there knowing that,
like Bob Iger and everybody literally was trying to crush
me and bleed me dry financially with this stupid lawsuit.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
So I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
And that's why I can't shut up about it, because
too many people feel scared to death of their companies
based on the pressures, you know, to raise a family
or stay alive medical bills to pay Like, I get it,
but just know that you are not alone. There are
millions of people out there who have felt scared like
I did and just stay quiet, and that's what they
(32:06):
bank on it. And if we continue to do that,
then I think it's on us like at some point
that's on me if I choose to stay silent.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
So I got to.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Help make people not be silent and realize we're in
this together. And the more we speak up, the more
they will realize they don't have the strength they think
that they do.
Speaker 5 (32:22):
We are powerful.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
If you like the Michael Berry Show and Podcast, please
tell one friend, and if you're so inclined, write a
nice review of our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions, and interest
in being a corporate sponsor and partner can be communicated
directly to the show at our email address, Michael at
(32:45):
Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking on our website,
Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry Show and Podcast
is produced by Ramon Roeblis, the King of Ding. Executive
producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.
(33:09):
Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery, and Shenanigans are provided by Chance MacLean.
Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily Bull is our
assistant listener and superfan. Contributions are appreciated and often incorporated
into our production. Where possible, we give credit, where not,
(33:32):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the
memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis, be a simple
man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and God bless America. Finally,
if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp
Hope at eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD and
(33:57):
a combat veteran will answer the phone to provide free counseling.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
H
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