Longtime SportsCenter host Sage Steele has apologized for controversial comments about ESPN's vaccine mandate and former President Obama.
The veteran anchor was also reportedly scheduled to be off the air this week, days after she called the company's vaccine policy "sick" and seemed to question Obama's racial identity during a podcast appearance.
On Tuesday, Steele released a statement apologizing for creating "controversy for the company."
Meanwhile, ESPN acknowledged having "direct conversations" with Steele about her recent remarks, according to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, but the details would remain private.
Ourand later reported that Steele would be off the air this week and absent from a women's sports conference later this month.
Steele made headlines last week when she seemed to express anti-vaccine sentiments while railing against the mandate.
“I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is, um, sick. And it’s scary to me in many ways,” Steele told former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler on his podcast.
The policy applied to Steele as an employee of ESPN, which was subject to the mandate announced by parent company Disney in late July.
“But I have a job, a job that I love, and frankly, a job that I need, but again, I love it," Steele said. "I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, a global company ... but it was actually emotional.”
Steele also came under criticism for suggesting during the same appearance that former President Obama shouldn't identify as Black because "his Black dad was nowhere to be found."
Steele was apparently slated to be the opening speaker at espnW's Women+Sports Summit in La Jolla, California, later this month.
Steele, touted as one of ESPN's "most popular" anchors on her bio page, joined the company in 2007.
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