ESPN has let go of Samantha Ponder — the only female anchor they still had willing to publicly advocate for women’s sports.
In 2023, came out in support of world class swimmer turned conservative activist Riley Gaines, and continued to be vocal about the issue.
In a tweet following the news of her firing, Gaines said she was convinced that it was “not a coincidence” that she was being pushed out.
A USA Today columnist by the name of Nancy Armour accused her of being a disingenuous bigot who didn’t actually care about fairness in women’s sports because she hadn’t used her platform to say anything about the pay discrepancies in women’s sports. Armour then went on to accuse Ponder of putting transgender people in danger.
The network’s official position is that the decision was financial, but many viewers and fans remain skeptical. Ponder has yet to make a public comment on her exit.
Fox News reports:
Ponder was among the tiny group of personalities who called for fairness in women’s sports amid the ongoing debate over transgender inclusion in women’s sports. She also defended Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker for his faith-based speech at Benedictine College.
In a video posted to X (formerly known as Twitter), former veteran ESPN anchor Sage Steele came to her defense.
I need to make sure that you all know who Samantha Ponder is. You’ve watched her for years, and she’s an incredible talent but that’s the least important thing about her. This woman is so strong…Samantha has taught me so much about God, about scripture, about the Bible, about not giving up and about standing tall. And you know what? She’s done that for the last several years at ESPN — even when it was hard…and I just need everyone to know, this is a brilliant woman…and I’m so excited for her future…I’m just honored to call her a dear friend and so damn proud of what she’s done, and how she’s done it the entire time. This is another loss for ESPN but it is a gain for literally the rest of the world cause now you’re gonna see the true Sam Ponder.”
Steele started at the network in 2007 and was suspended in 2021 following a podcast interview with Jay Cutler where she shared her views on the coronavirus vaccine, that diverged with what the majority of mainstream media was saying at the time, as well as criticized contemporary women’s fashion.
Following her suspension, she sued ESPN and parent company Disney for stifling her freedom of speech, also accusing them of a contract breech, resulting in a settlement of half a million dollars. She left the network shortly after. She stated that her former employer demanded she stop posting about Lia Thomas — the famous transgender swimmer — in 2022.
Where are the so called womens groups? Oh, I forgot there aren’t any, they are just political flacks posing. Give me your money ladies so I can give it to the party. We will get back to you later. You know like the next election. Don’t call us, we’ll call you!
What do you mean, moderation? You actually do limit free speach! Your site underlined the word “speach”! That seems to be a frightening word for you!
ESPN should be hiring more outstanding people like Samantha Ponder. She deserves commendations for her support of women’ sports. I hope that she will be employed immediately by a Company that appreciates her talents. Once again, ESPN validates the level of regard held by millions of sports fans.
Samantha Ponder has bigger cojones than the male espn employees…ESPN only hires nuttered males that’s why they won’t speakout like Ms Ponder….