Former ESPN host Sage Steele revealed that his 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-recorded interview, so much so that his bosses at ESPN gave him a ‘‘script‘‘ to execute presently.
“It was an interesting experiment in itself because it was very structured,” Steele said. And I was told, You’re going to say every word we write; you’re not going to go off script and leave.
Most of the questions Steele asked Biden in the March 2021 interview were about sports federations trying to restore normalcy. But everything Steele told the president ultimately came from ESPN’s upper management.
Every question is written down and reviewed dozens of times by multiple editors and executives. I followed the script and was told not to deviate,” Steele told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s what you’re going to ask.
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‘It goes up to the fourth floor, as we said, where all the bosses are, the senior executives, the decision-makers, the president of our company, the CEO, where they all work.
Steele said she didn’t know for sure whether ESPN sent questions to the White House before the interview, but she appeared to believe that was what happened.
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“I think it’s heartbreaking that people who love Joe Biden and say they care about him would let it get to this point,” Steele said. So this is a humanistic question for me, as I don’t care where people stand, what they vote for, or who they believe in.
‘‘Steele previously detailed Biden’s ‘‘pausing‘‘ during their pre-interview conversation before taping. I got to chat while we waited for us to get rolling,‘‘ Steele told Maher on his ‘‘Club Random‘‘ podcast last fall.
‘‘Well, what he started doing, of course, was that there was someone next to him, and they kept a black curtain over the camera lens, so we couldn’t see him until the last second, but we could hear and talk.
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So I could hear him, and he said, “What is that for? ”And he said: “Who am I talking to? Steele exclaimed.
“And then he said, ‘Sportscenter. ESPN. And he said, ‘‘Oh, okay.” And so I said, You know, what are you talking about?
And he said, “You know, I used to play soccer.” And then he started telling soccer stories about how great he was.
He said, ‘‘And I have the most beautiful hands.” Then she continued: ‘‘And then I said, ‘Oh, so you’re the recipient.”
Steele left ESPN last August after settling a lawsuit she filed against the network, accusing it of violating her free speech rights.
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