ESPN’s Sage Steele on Left-Wing Former ‘SportsCenter’ Host Jemele Hill: ‘She Put That Onto Herself’

With the announcement that liberal ESPN host Jemele Hill will be ending her stint as host of SportsCenter — likely because of her overheated political rhetoric — another ESPN host who got in trouble over her political comments is found to have little sympathy for her liberal colleague.

Hill repeatedly got herself in trouble with ESPN’s management over her constant need to dive into left-wing political commentary, especially on social media. Her penchant to engage in politics earned her a two-week suspension last year. And Hill has expressed no regrets over her attacks on Donald Trump and conservatives saying only she wishes maybe she didn’t use Twitter to do so.

But, despite repeated admonitions from bosses who time and again warned her to avoid breaking the company’s rule against overly political social media posts, Jemele Hill continued to spout her extremely liberal political views in interviews, on her SportsCenter show, and, yes, on social media.

Hill’s refusal to lay off the politics seems to have led to an end to her role as host of SportsCenter. But fellow ESPN host Sage Steele doesn’t seem to have any sympathy for Hill’s plight, according to the New York Post.

“I think Jemele is a completely different story in that she put that onto herself of her own volition. Sam had been attacked,” Steele said in a recent interview published by Refinery29. “I think that’s an important distinction.”

One might think that Steele would have some affinity for Hill’s situation. After all, Steele got herself in trouble several times for comments some people (and ESPN management) considered as leaning too far to the right.

In one case Steele was scolded for a social media post expressing her impatience at leftist protesters who had shut down an airport making her miss her flight. In another case, Steele was criticized by social justice warriors for slamming NFL players who protest during the playing of the national anthem.

Steele noted that everyone at ESPN is starting to feel “afraid to comment on things,” but also said that Hill needs to “abide by the rules.”

There may be a bit of disgust in Steele’s feelings over how she was treated during her social media controversies compared to the adulation Hill received, too.

“When I was going through my social media attacks, I felt really, really, really alone in every single way,” Steele said. “It’s hard when you’re being attacked, and no one publicly will support you.”

Steele was faced with condemnation by bosses and fans when she spoke her feelings on social media. On the other hand, Hill was slathered with praise, and even benefited from an ESPN management that bent over backward to support her left-wing politics.

But, Steele thinks people need to own their views.

“When you’re a public figure, and you choose to make a choice to express yourself, things come with that,” Steele concluded. “People are gonna take what they wanna take from what you say and what you do, and at some point, you’ve got to let go of that. Or just don’t talk.”

Clearly, Steele feels that Hill made her bed and is now being forced to lie in it.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.