Sage Steele Reveals the Real Reason for Her ESPN Exit in a Candid New Interview

Former ESPN anchor and outspoken sportscaster Sage Steele is once again dominating conversation—this time for a whirlwind week that saw her tie the knot in Nashville and reignite debate over athlete activism. A fairy-tale Nashville wedding Sources close to the 52-year-old media veteran confirmed that Steele married businessman Dave Barbuto during a Labor Day-weekend ceremony at the historic Mint at Nashville’s Marathon Village. Photos obtained by Daily Mail show Steele in a beaded ivory gown alongside Barbuto, whose tech-start-up roots trace back to Silicon Valley. Fellow sports-media names Samantha Ponder and Pat McAfee were among the roughly 200 guests, according to social posts viewed more than two million times within 24 hours. Instagram buzz fuels the trend Steele’s own Instagram carousel—captioned “09.05.2025. The best day of my life”—garnered 60 000 likes in its first six hours, pushing her name to the top of social-platform trending lists. The post featured video of her three children walking her down the aisle, a moment that resonated with longtime viewers who watched Steele juggle parenthood and “SportsCenter” morning shifts for more than a decade. From aisle to airwaves Just three days after the ceremony, Steele recorded a special episode of “The Sage Steele Show,” the flagship podcast she launched in March 2024 with Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios. In the episode she and Barbuto recounted a “blind-set-up” first meeting during a 2024 Nashville charity gala and teased an upcoming series on marriage and faith. The appearance pushed the podcast to No. 4 on Apple’s U.S. sports chart, its highest placement yet. Renewed controversy over Charlie Kirk tribute Steele’s honeymoon glow, however, quickly shared headlines with fresh controversy. During a Fox News appearance, she criticized professional sports leagues for failing to honor conservative commentator Charlie Kirk after his murder, contrasting that response with the widespread tributes for George Floyd in 2020. Her remarks triggered polarized reactions—praise from free-speech advocates, condemnation from progressive commentators—and catapulted “Sage Steele Charlie Kirk” into the top tier of real-time search queries. ESPN exit still shapes her narrative The flare-up underscores the complicated legacy of Steele’s 2023 departure from ESPN, which followed a settled free-speech lawsuit over comments she made about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and former President Barack Obama. Steele, who hosted “NBA Countdown” and multiple editions of “SportsCenter,” said she left so she could “exercise [her] First Amendment rights more freely,” a refrain she echoed this week while doubling down on her Kirk remarks. Why the story matters now • Cultural flashpoint: Steele’s critique arrives as leagues craft new guidelines on player-driven social-justice displays for the upcoming NBA and NFL seasons. • Audience crossover: Her wedding and podcast resurgence expand Steele’s reach beyond traditional sports fans into lifestyle, faith and pop-culture circles. • Brand calculus: Sponsors that previously distanced themselves from Steele after 2021 are now weighing whether her podcast’s growth outweighs the risk of political controversy. SEO keywords to watch for traffic Sage Steele wedding, Dave Barbuto, Sage Steele podcast, Sage Steele Charlie Kirk comments, former ESPN anchor, Nashville wedding 2025, sports leagues activism debate. What’s next Steele announced a limited-series video documentary on her post-ESPN journey, slated for early 2026 release. Meanwhile, Barbuto’s Nashville-based fintech firm plans to leverage the couple’s spotlight with a community STEM program targeting local high schools. Bottom line Whether celebrating marriage or sparking debate, Sage Steele remains a magnetic presence in the sports-media ecosystem. Her ability to generate headlines across lifestyle, business and culture virtually guarantees that searches for her name—and the controversies that follow—will stay hot through the fall sports calendar and beyond.