Former ESPN host says her Biden interview was entirely 'scripted' by network execs: 'Every single question' | Fox News
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Sage Steele says ESPN handed her 'script' ahead of Biden interview
In an interview with Fox News Digital, former ESPN host Sage Steele said her bosses ordered her to go off a "script" during her 2021 interview with President Biden.
Former ESPN host Sage Steele revealed that her 2021 interview with President Biden was "scripted" by network executives.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Steele recalled the "structured" nature of the pre-taped interview, so much so that her ESPN bosses handed her a "script" to go off of.
"That was an interesting experience in its own right because it was so structured," Steele said. "And I was told, 'You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script and go.'"
Many of the questions Steele asked Biden in the March 2021 interview pertained to sports leagues attempting to restore normalcy during the COVID pandemic and vaccine hesitancy among athletes and fans. Her interview made headlines at the time when Biden supported the MLB's All-Star game boycott of Atlanta following the passage of Georgia's election reform law.
SAGE STEELE IS OFF THE SIDELINES AND SPEAKING HER MIND
Former ESPN host Sage Steele says her network bosses forced her to go off their "script" ahead of her 2021 interview with President Biden.(Screenshot/ESPN)
But everything Steele said to the president ultimately came from ESPN's c-suite.
"To the word. Every single question was scripted, gone over dozens of times by many editors and executives. Absolutely. I was on script and was told not to deviate," Steele told Fox News Digital. "It was very much 'This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next.' … This went up to the fourth floor, as we said, where all the bosses, the top executives, the decision makers are, the president of our company, the CEO, where they all worked."
Steele said she didn't know for certain whether ESPN sent the questions to the White House in advance of the interview but seemed confident that is "what happened."
ESPN declined to comment.
SAGE STEELE LEAVES ESPN, WANTS TO 'EXERCISE MY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS MORE FREELY'
Sage Steele hosts "The Sage Steele Show" with Bill Maher's newly-launched Club Random Studios.(Courtesy of Club Random Studios)
Steele, who last week launched her new podcast "The Sage Steele Show," said her brief interaction with the oldest-sitting president was "heartbreaking," referring to his mental acuity.
"I think it's really heartbreaking that the people who love Joe Biden and say they truly care about him have allowed it to get to this point," Steele said. "So I'm not even looking at this from a political angle or my beliefs in anything. This is the human side of it. And when someone is struggling, we allow them to continue to be in the spotlight and put them out there in the first place when they knew there were issues? Of course, they had to know. So it's a humanity thing with me where I don't care where anyone stands and what they vote for or who they believe in. Do you really care about that person? As a father, as a husband, as an everything."
FORMER ESPN HOST SAGE STEELE TRASHES 'THE VIEW' ON BILL MAHER'S PODCAST: THE SHOW IS 'DESPICABLE'
Steele previously detailed how Biden "trailed off" in their pre-interview chat before taping.
"It was satellite, it wasn't in person. We're having a technical issue. And so I had to, like, BS. I had to chitchat waiting for us to start rolling," Steele told Maher on his "Club Random" podcast last fall. "Well, what he started to do, of course he has someone next to him, and they keep a black, like, curtain over the lens of the camera, so you can't see him until the last second, but you can hear, and we're chitchatting… So I can hear him, and he goes, 'What is this for?'… And he's, like, 'Who am I talking to? Wait—what's her name?'"
"This is like a 'Naked Gun' movie," Maher quipped.
Sage Steele told Bill Maher that President Biden "trailed off" during a conversation ahead of their 2021 interview on ESPN.(Screenshot/Club Random)
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"I was going, 'Oh, my God!'" Steele exclaimed. "And then he said, 'SportsCenter. ESPN.' And he goes, 'Oh, ok.' And so I said, you know, what do you say? 'Hi, Mr. President. Nice to meet you.' And so I'm trying just to fill time. And he said, 'You know, I used to play football'… And so he started to tell football stories of his greatness. And again, I can't see him. You can see the curtain… He goes, 'And I have the best hands.' What do you say to that?"
She later continued, "And then I said, 'Oh, so you were a receiver.' And he started to explain it. And here's the saddest thing — his voice just trailed off. He said, 'I was good,' and then he went silent, and he goes, 'Uhh… never mind.'"
Steele left ESPN last August after settling a lawsuit she had filed against the network alleging it violated her free speech rights. She has since joined Maher's Club Randon Studios, which produces her podcast.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.
No Maga
No Fascist BS
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No, Biden doesn't have dementia. we just have to script his entire life, Hell he even asks his aides if he can talk to the press.
Anyone trying to promote that Joe has the mental capabilities to be president might as well stop talking about Trump and his supporters, they have 0 credibility.
A 35-year-old Texas man legally changed his name to “Literally Anybody Else” and announced he is running in the 2024 Presidential election.
Literally Anybody Else has my vote. LOL
couldn't agree more
Nice try
It’s 2024. How embarrassing that the parameters of a 2021 interview on a sports channel is the new bar for the right.
Good, so do you think he is more or less senile now than 2021?
He never was. You must be thinking of someone else.
So a deflection to trump is the best you have to defend biden? That is like saying Newsome is a jackass so who cares if Schiff is a jackass.
I’ve got better, just not going to waste it here. Pearls before swine, etc.
It's a new story as she has just initiated a Podcast and is talking about her history. Oh and a montage of Trump is also from the more distant past.
A new story about an old interview. What’s next? A new story about what Biden ate for lunch that day?
Oatmeal and a pudding cup. The usual.
With ice cream for desert.
God i hope it's not 2 scoops, we will never hear the end of it.
A lot of Sage Steele's thoughts and comments conform with MAGA, and did prior to 2021. That is about all you need to know.
Sound more like it's the reality of dealing with Traitor Joe - he's a joke.
So that means it didn't happen?
[✘]
you figure it out.
She is also a vaccine denier , and says Obama should identify as a white man, among other things.
Nice try. Who are you quoting? Sure as hell isn't me.
That has nothing to do with telling everybody about the nonsense she had to deal with to interview Traitor Joe. Try another deflection.
I'm quoting her. I thought was obvious.