Halle Berry Cancelled Interview With Sage Steele After Vaccine Mandate Comments
Still, Steele complied in order to continue supporting her three teenage children and her ex-husband.
When Sage Steele spoke out against vaccine mandates — keyword: mandates — in 2021, it cost her an interview with Halle Berry.
For context, Steele appeared on Jay Cutler’s podcast with a patch on her shoulder, explaining that she had just received the COVID vaccine under Disney’s mandate to keep her job. As she repeatedly stated, she respected those who wanted the vaccines but was deeply uncomfortable with the company forcing them on employees.
Still, Steele complied in order to continue supporting her three teenage children and her ex-husband.
Speaking to podcast host Katie Miller this week, Steele revealed that soon after her vaccine comments, Berry’s team informed her the actress would not attend an upcoming espnW event if Steele were the host.
“I got a call from the producer who said … Halle Berry’s people have said that … she will not come if you are doing that interview with her,” Steele recalled. “I was devastated because … there’s so much to talk about that has nothing to do with our opinions on a vaccine.”
During her conversation with Cutler, Steele also questioned why biracial people, like Barack Obama and herself, are forced to mark either “Black” or “White” on the U.S. Census.
How dare she?
You know the rest. ESPN suspended Steele and issued a press release condemning her for violating its so-called “ban on politics” policy. Several colleagues, including Ryan Clark, refused to appear with her on-air. She became as frequent a target of the Media Cool Kids as Clay Travis, Jason Whitlock, and me.
But in the meantime, Steele earned the respect of countless Americans who also felt silenced. She responded to Disney’s politically motivated disciplinary actions with a lawsuit. Unlike most plaintiffs, Steele didn’t name a price.
She was after not money, but accountability. She stood not just for herself but for every U.S.-based employee who ever felt muzzled for holding dissenting political views.
As her children set off for college, their mother’s lawsuit showed them they were not powerless — that even a corporation as massive as Disney could be held accountable.
In 2023, Disney settled with Steele. Consider how concerned the company must have been about what discovery would reveal that it didn’t even secure an NDA. Steele is free to talk about ESPN and Disney as she chooses.
In the end, Sage Steele won. People like Sage Steele won. And along the way, staunch vaccine advocates like Halle Berry have come to look foolish, pompous, and grossly uninformed.