ESPN forced her to get the COVID shot — then fired her anyway



Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele was among those in 2021 forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine in order to keep her job — but after complying and getting the shots, her employer let her go anyway.

Steele was taken off the air following a podcast appearance on “Uncut with Jay Cutler,” where she called vaccine mandates “sick” and “scary.”

“You’ve had this long career, this illustrious career, and it came to a point when truth was on the line, and you took a risk,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says to Steele.

“I had been suspended, punished at ESPN in 2021. As we tape this, exactly four years ago I was suspended and in bed, sobbing and scared to death of what was next,” Steele explains.


“I was suspended for speaking up about being forced to take the COVID vaccine in order to keep my job at Disney. ... I had to be fully vaccinated by September 30, 2021, or else, and I waited until the very last second, and I had prayed about it,” she continues.

While Steele was against taking the shots, the pressure she felt as a mother with bills to pay was too much, and she decided to comply.

“I was ready to walk away, but as the sole wage earner with three kids and an ex and alimony and all those things, I felt like I had to make the choice to do it to keep my job. I still struggle with that. I feel like I caved,” she explains.

“So, I did it, and I complied, and then I talked on a podcast about it,” Steele tells Stuckey, noting that she went on the podcast immediately after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, so she was extra angry.

“I said, ‘I think it’s sick and wrong for any employer to force an employee to do something to their bodies that they don’t want to.’ Pretty simple. I said, ‘But I love my job, and I need my job.’ And here we are,” she tells Stuckey.

“And that was the beginning of the end,” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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ESPN Tried to Cancel Her. Here's How She Bounced Back | Sage Steele | Ep 1252
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ESPN Tried to Cancel Her. Here's How She Bounced Back | Sage Steele | Ep 1252

ESPN accused of removing host from network after interview about Charlie Kirk



ESPN and Disney have rejected the accusation that executives removed commentator Paul Finebaum from network shows after he spoke about Charlie Kirk in an interview that aired last week.

Finebaum, a legend in college football broadcasting, appeared in a sit-down interview with OutKick's Clay Travis to discuss a possible transition into federal politics.

'This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE.'

Finebaum told Travis he was greatly affected by the death of Kirk, saying he was "numb" for hours after hearing about the assassination.

"I felt very empty doing what I was doing that day," Finebaum told Travis. "It's hard to describe, not being involved in politics ... how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country. And it was an awakening."

Finebaum then revealed that he was subsequently inspired by Kirk and may be exploring a run for Senate as a Republican in Alabama.

Since the interview was released on Sept. 30, Finebaum has reportedly been pulled from ESPN network shows.

"Disney/ESPN has removed [Finebaum] from appearing on ESPN since his [OutKick] interview expressing interest in running as a Republican for senate in Alabama," OutKick's Travis wrote on X. "ESPN has canceled all network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus."

However, Travis was immediately confronted by one of ESPN's own.

RELATED: Charlie Kirk assassination inspires famed ESPN commentator to run for Senate — as a conservative

— (@)

About 25 minutes after Travis' post, ESPN's vice president of communications, Bill Hofheimer, responded to claims with a straight denial.

"This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE," Hofheimer wrote on X.

Travis hit back, saying the decision was above Hofheimer's "pay grade" while asking the executive to cite appearances by Finebaum.

Travis' claims were followed by college sports site On3 confirming the story through reporter Pete Nakos.

Alabama's AL.com also said it had confirmed the story. However, ESPN is sticking to Hofheimer's statement.

— (@)

In comments to Blaze News, ESPN referred to Hofheimer's X post as its official public comment.

"Finebaum was never banned. Any reporting on this is totally false," ESPN's senior communications director, Amanda Brooks, explained.

She told Blaze News that not only is Finebaum scheduled to appear on ESPN's "First Take" on Tuesday, he is also "scheduled to do hits on SportsCenter this weekend."

The network stated that it is trying to find various college football analysts to step into different roles "in the event that Finebaum chooses to run for office" in order to be "prepared for his potential absence."

ESPN outright denied the claims made by On3, Outkick, and AL.com

Brooks said Finebaum will continue his "SEC Nation" appearances and his own ESPN show, "The Paul Finebaum Show."

Fans had noted that they saw Finebaum on SEC shows over the weekend.

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Netflix features trans teen kissing scene in kids' cartoon — but it's not the only one



After stumbling upon a Netflix show titled “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” Elon Musk is not happy with the streaming service — urging his followers on X to “cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”

The show featured a teenage protagonist who is a trans boy — and in a clip making the rounds on social media, he’s shown kissing another boy to the cheers of his friends.

In the show's description, it's advertised as an animated series that “centers on Barney, a transgender teen protagonist who relentlessly pursues another man sexually while battling demons.”

Now, Netflix stock is tanking — but BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales warns that there’s more shows that parents have to be worried about.


The show “CoComelon,” which is for toddlers and babies, has a scene where two fathers are singing and dancing with their son, who is beaming while wearing a dress.

“Oh, and the dads have to be interracial as well,” Gonzales comments.

“This is for babies, and they just want to indoctrinate them as soon as they possibly can into thinking that this is normal, into thinking that they should strive to be like that,” she says.

“And so, there’s been this big push, this big expose into Netflix, and why in the world as we allowing our children, not mine, why is America allowing their children to just sit in front of the TV, walk away, and let them just soak all of that in?” she asks.

“Well, Netflix stock is tanking right now because people are waking up to this agenda. I don’t know why it has taken so long, but I welcome it. But I would just like to remind people that this problem goes way beyond Netflix,” she continues.

“It is so many children’s shows. So many children’s shows across the board in the entertainment industry that are just subtle messaging, trying to just throw it in wherever they can to make it just seem like it’s just a blip. It’s just a blip on their radar. Because if it’s just a blip, that means it’s normal,” she adds.

And Gonzales is right, it’s not just Netflix. In an all-hands company Zoom meeting in 2020, Latoya Raveneau, an executive producer for Disney, told her co-workers that “the showrunners were super welcoming” to what she called her “not-at-all secret gay agenda.”

“They’re turning it around, they’re going hard, and then all that, like, momentum that I felt, like, that sense of, I don’t have to be afraid to, like, ‘Let’s have these two characters kiss’ ... I was wherever I could, just basically adding queerness ... no one would stop me, and no one was trying to stop me,” Ravaneau said.

“Imagine being a grown adult and getting that much glee, that much joy from talking about how you’re trying to indoctrinate children,” Gonzales comments, adding, “It’s really sick, these people. These people need mental help.”

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Why Demon Slayer Speaks To The Soul And Disney Doesn’t

The problem isn’t that Americans are watching Japanese anime; it’s that Hollywood has stopped telling the kind of stories that 'set hearts ablaze.'

Jimmy Kimmel's show SHOULD be pulled by the FCC for THIS reason



After Jimmy Kimmel was fired for his comments regarding Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination, the talk show host was promptly reinstated by Disney — despite the show's lack of viewership before his firing.

“Everyone at ABC and Disney knows who’s watching. They know the numbers better than we do. And all the advertisers know, too, that the phones aren’t ringing — 'buy advertising on Jimmy Kimmel.' They know this,” BlazeTV host Steve Deace explains on the “Steve Deace Show.”

“So why is making $20, $30, $40 million a year, whatever it is? Why? Because it’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message. He’s there to be a vessel of propaganda. That’s why. There’s no marketplace of ideas for that. There’s no one to bang on for that. It really would not matter if we all stopped watching,” he continues.

The real audience, Deace explains, is the alternative media on the right, who have been playing Kimmel’s clips in order to expose the left.


“Same thing with ‘The View.’ ‘The View’ will generate way more engagements and reactions from us than they can on their own. And that’s pretty much true of all of their media outlets and all of their content,” he says.

“That’s what Jimmy Kimmel is. … His god is making sure that his message gets out there, ratings and numbers be damned, because it’s a shibboleth of the damned. That’s the point,” he continues.

Which is why Disney continues to produce “all these flops.”

“They’re not dumb. Like we keep saying, they are well aware of what they are doing. They’re nihilists. They’re deconstructionists. They’re iconoclasts. They’re here to smash the stained-glass windows. They’re doing this on purpose,” he says. “They want to inject what we call ‘rotgut’ into the culture because it’s doctrine to them.”

But Deace has solutions, like using the FCC to pull shows like Kimmel’s.

“We will either do that, or new voices will emerge, and they’re already emerging,” he says, “who will demand we start playing by the left’s more nihilistic rules now.”

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America is now playing by Corkins’ rules — unless we stop it



Floyd Lee Corkins. That name should ring louder than it does.

In 2012, Corkins stormed into the Family Research Council’s Washington, D.C., offices armed and intent on mass murder. A security guard stopped him before he could carry out a massacre. He became the first person convicted of domestic terrorism in the District of Columbia.

Corkins came once. His successors will come again. ... The question is what we’re prepared to do about it.

Yet you probably don’t recall him right away. Why not? Probably because the propaganda leaflets against Chick-fil-A and Christians found in his car tied back to groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center — and the press played down the obvious connection. They helped bury what Corkins meant to announce in blood: that political rhetoric backed by violence was the new normal.

I’ve long warned that when legitimate authorities fail to punish evil, someone eventually decides to take matters into his own hands. Corkins is the left’s demonic version of that. His case teaches a simple lesson: If you’re going to call conservatives Hitler, sooner or later someone will start acting on the metaphor.

That same logic drove the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice, where a Bernie Sanders supporter nearly assassinated a swath of House Republicans. Rhetoric became ammunition. Talking points became bullets.

Fast-forward to 2025. The demons are autographing their shell casings. They want everyone to know exactly who wants us dead. And the corporate left-wing press winks and nods along.

Enter Jimmy Kimmel, a late-night host with fewer viewers than Glenn Beck can pull in an impromptu X Spaces session.

Kimmel should have been irrelevant years ago. But his network kept him on the air. Why? Not because he draws ratings or ad revenue — he doesn’t. He survives because of affinity advertising: the corporate and philanthropic subsidy system that props up “the right people” no matter how much red ink their shows spill. Pfizer, Disney, the Soros family — they all bankroll the propaganda they want in circulation, audience or no.

As the Joker explained while burning an enormous pile of cash, “It’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message.”

That’s why Kimmel could stand on stage and smear conservatives, even after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and still be untouchable. His words carry the same function as Corkins’ bullets: intimidation dressed up as entertainment.

RELATED: Violence gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back

Blaze Media Illustration

The danger isn’t just one unfunny comedian. It’s the ecosystem that shields him. Advertisers and networks subsidize the message, the media excuses it, and the extremists absorb it as permission. That’s how rhetoric becomes carnage.

We face two choices. We can enforce the law, punish violent actors and those who materially enable them, and protect the marketplace of ideas. Or we can accept the Corkins rules: a culture where calling people Hitler is step one and shooting them is step two.

The notion that we can run in place like Mike Pence, emasculating ourselves for the sake of “proper tone” or one last bow to decorum, is a funeral march. Some may find comfort in that tune, but I will not bind my children’s future to it.

Corkins came once. His successors will come again. Kimmel’s sponsors and allies want you to think this is inevitable. It isn’t. The question is what we’re prepared to do about it.

Jimmy Kimmel Refuses To Condemn ‘ANTI ICE’ Shooting At Texas Immigration Facility

A day after issuing a non-apology for lying about his alleged killer’s political beliefs, late-night “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel is now refusing to condemn an attack against ICE agents. On Wednesday, a suspected sniper opened fire on an ICE transportation vehicle in Dallas, Texas, killing two and injuring another. All of those struck in the attack […]

Jimmy Kimmel says he didn't mean to 'blame any specific group' for Charlie Kirk's assassination



Jimmy Kimmel returned to the studio on Tuesday after missing just four episodes following a suspension over remarks about Charlie Kirk's murderer.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was pulled off the air last Wednesday after the host claimed that Kirk's alleged assassin was part of "the MAGA gang" that was desperately trying to disassociate the shooter from its political ideology.

"The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel remarked.

'This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn't, ever.'

Following those comments, Kimmel and other liberals claimed he was the victim of a government plot to silence him. However, the host returned to the airwaves on Tuesday and prefaced his monologue with a compilation of news stories surrounding his suspension. This included left-wing networks calling his return a "huge" and "pivotal" moment in history.

Kimmel took the stage to multiple standing ovations from his audience, immediately tearing up. He mentioned all the love he had received over the weekend, including from other hosts like Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert, and even a former employer who fired him from a radio station.

But when Kimmel addressed the remarks that led to his suspension, he said he was not trying to pin any ideology to the shooter.

"I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind," Kimmel said. "But I do want to make something clear because it's important to me as a human. And that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don't think there's anything funny about it."

Kimmel noted he made a social media post about Kirk in support of his family, before adding, "Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what ... was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make."

"I don't think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn't, ever," Kimmel explained.

RELATED: Nexstar stands its ground, keeps blocking Kimmel's show

Kimmel made time to thank those who "don't support" his show or what he believes in but support his "right to share those beliefs."

This included "Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz."

After playing a clip of Senator Cruz's remarks, Kimmel still chose to make fun of the Republican by saying, "If Ted Cruz can't speak freely, then he can't cast spells on the Smurfs."

The rest of Kimmel's monologue focused on his apparent battle with the government over his right to speech, with the 57-year-old stating that Americans cannot allow their government to "control what we do and do not say on television."

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had said of Kimmel's network, ABC, last week, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," in reference to Kimmel's false statements linking the suspected assassin with MAGA. This became the predominant source of liberal claims that the government was censoring speech.

RELATED: I experienced Jimmy Kimmel’s lies firsthand. His suspension is justice.

Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images

ABC affiliate station owners Nexstar and Sinclair still chose not to broadcast Kimmel's show upon his return, with Nexstar telling Blaze News, "We made a decision last week to pre-empt 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s 'ill-timed and insensitive' comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve."

Nexstar owns 32 of 200 ABC affiliate stations.

Carr doubled down before Kimmel's return on Tuesday and said Democrats "simply can't stand that local TV stations—for the first time in years—stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming."

"We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license," he wrote on X.

Kimmel also claimed in his monologue that the powers that be, simply using the word "they," tried to "coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air."

"That's not legal," the host declared. "That's not American. That is un-American, and it is so dangerous."

In the end, Kimmel admitted his show is not important, but said rather that what is important is living in a country that allows a show like his to remain on the air.

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66 ABC Affiliates Won’t Air Jimmy Kimmel After Nexstar Holds Firm

Nexstar, the owner of numerous local ABC affiliate stations, is holding firm on its pledge not to show Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show after the host lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassin. Nexstar’s announcement comes one day after Sinclair, another owner of local affiliates, made the same move, bringing the total number of affiliates that will […]