When SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele complied but complained about ESPN’s vaccine mandate, the Worldwide Leader responded by giving her some time off.
Comedian and podcast host Adam Carolla defended Steele after Deadspin named her their No. 6 “idiot” of 2021. And during his appearance on Jay Cutler’s podcast this week, Carolla blasted ESPN’s response to Steele as “totalitarian.”
“Cowards like ESPN release these letters that are like…’we try to cultivate a culture of open dialogue and expansive opinions.’ Bull f*cking sh*t, you liars. You don’t cultivate sh*t,” Carolla ranted on Uncut with Jay Cutler.
“We see by your actions, you discipline anyone who disagrees with your culture. So don’t f*cking give me that talk,” Carolla added.
In September, Steele joined Cutler’s podcast and showed off the bandage on her arm after receiving the Covid vaccine. Although she got vaccinated, Steele criticized ESPN’s mandate as “sick and scary.” Shortly after the podcast was released, ESPN decided Steele should take some time off, which ironically coincided with her testing positive for Covid.
“The people that suffer is the audience, who would like to hear someone’s actual opinion about something other than, ‘is Ray Lewis a top five all-time linebacker?’” Carolla said. “All it’s gonna do is stifle people.”
Carolla added that the fear of saying something punishable will encourage people to stop going on podcasts, where the risk often outweighs the reward.
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