By Jessica Wedemeyer
3:06am PDT, Aug 23, 2023
_
Megyn Kelly has accused ESPN of espousing a "woke" agenda. She made the comment while chatting with fellow TV journalist Sage Steele — who recently left the network over her desire to exercise her "First Amendment rights more freely" — on an Aug. 17 episode of "The Megyn Kelly Show." During a wide-ranging interview spanning more than two hours, the former Fox News host — who infamously got the boot from the "Today" show in 2018 after she said she thought it was OK to wear blackface "as long as it's a character" for a Halloween costume — criticized ESPN for allowing hosts to consistently embrace liberal talking points while discouraging discourse surrounding transgender athletes competing in women's sports. Sports media has "a special obligation" to discuss the topic, she insisted.
Keep reading for more on what the women had to say…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
Her daughter and sports
Megyn Kelly, who shares three children with second husband Douglas Brunt, is clearly opposed to allowing transgender female athletes to play women's sports: "Men should not be participating in women's sports," she said.
"My daughter is 12. If she shows up at a soccer game and there is a boy on the other team, we're out of there. There's zero chance I will let her play. I don't care who I offend. … There's no way — and I recommend other parents do the same thing because your kid actually could get hurt," the conservative talking head continued. (There's no evidence that young athletes are more likely to get hurt while facing off against trans competitors.)
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
Her take on a trans woman in tennis
Megyn Kelly went on to share a hot take about trans female athletes in women's sports: "We need a man to go into women's professional tennis — that's where the women become superstars and millionaires and where we celebrate the ladies. … Let's let those ladies who are like the crème de la crème in the tennis world start losing to dudes and then let's force the wokesters [to choose a side]. … That's where the rubber hits the road. Let's see who they choose. Is it gonna be the women who have their own space or is it gonna be the men who you've been propping up because they call themselves women even though they're not?" she asked — consistently misgendering trans female athletes in the process.
Claims about ESPN colleagues
In 2022, Sage Steele sued ESPN for violating her First Amendment rights and Connecticut free-speech laws after they suspended her over controversial comments she made about the network's COVID vaccine policy and about former President Barack Obama's racial identity during a podcast interview. (She recently settled the lawsuit and "mutually agreed to part ways" with ESPN.)
The conservative sports journalist agreed with Megyn Kelly's opinion about trans athletes in women's sports and said that she finds it "disgusting" that her former ESPN colleagues won't discuss the issue on air. She went on to allege that several of her male colleagues said behind closed doors that they're opposed to transgender athletes in women's sports but are afraid the network will retaliate against them if they share those thoughts publicly.
"So many of them have children — have daughters — who are in those arenas, on those courts, on those fields, and I know damn well … there's no way they would allow their daughters to be on a field with boys — especially as you get older, as you're a teenager. Are you kidding me? And everyone knows it. But that's kind of the part that does make me rage a little bit because, again, all of these women … are silent with these issue," Said said.
"This isn't even controversial. This is stupid that it's even a topic with trans-biological men trying to play sports with women," she continued.
Her take on abortion talk on ESPN
Sage Steele questioned why ESPN anchors are allowed to criticize the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and other liberal talking points. She specifically took aim at ESPN anchor Malika Andrews for saying that "women's reproductive rights [were] being taken away."
"She's holding back tears. Where's her tearful diatribe for my daughter and the daughters of America right now who are getting hurt when playing against biological boys? Why are they crying about abortion on the set of ESPN?" Sage asked.
"The fact that they're all silent disgusts me, especially because of how vocal they were about, let's say the overturning of Roe v. Wade and women's rights. I mean, hello, there were people on our airwaves talking about that," she said.
Chimed in Megyn Kelly, "Abortion is not sports! … Why are they crying about abortion on the set at ESPN?"
