SAM Ponder has broken her silence on her exit from ESPN last year.
Ponder spent 14 years with ESPN before being let go in August last year.
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Ponder believes her release from ESPN is tied to her views on transgender athletes and her work schedule.
She explained this theory on Wednesday’s episode of The Sage Steel Show.
Ponder mostly believes she was let go from ESPN after a series of events linked to a July 2023 retweet about transgender athletes.
“I don’t really think me losing my job was solely because of that, but the timing of it almost certainly was,” Ponder said.
“I was told after the fact privately that most people at the top of the company did agree with me on the issue but there is a loud activist group at Disney and they were not happy with me.
“I can say all that and tell this part of the story and still tell you, Sage, it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.
“I was on that hamster wheel and I was not going to jump off on my own. I needed to get kicked off.
“As much as the part of the reasoning behind it is legit crazy, I feel no bitterness or even frankly sadness.
“I had a great career, I was 20 years in the business. I met some awesome people and there are still some really great people there.
“Never thought this would kind of be the way out but should have spoken up a long time before, I should have been a lot more courageous when I knew what was right.”
Ponder further emphasized how her release was “unjust” and “ridiculous.”
“You can say multiple true things,” Ponder said.
“One, I think an element of why I was fired was if you want to call it unjust, or let’s just say it another way, for a ridiculous reason, I think part of why I got fired was because of that.
“That’s just my opinion. And I’m so grateful.”
Ponder said she knew her time with ESPN was going to close soon after she retweeted a video of Penn swimmer Paula Scanlan talking about her time as a teammate of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
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“I didn’t think that was going to get that much of a response, but it did,” she said.
ESPN labeled Ponder’s exit as a financial decision, but she believes “business” reasons were involved.
“I never believe I was solely fired for this,” Ponder said of her opinions on transgender athletes.
“I think the model of my career at that point, only working Sundays in the fall on ‘Countdown’ was not what they wanted and they felt like they were paying me too much money to do just one thing.
“I had turned down opportunities in the past to work more and do more because of the season of life I’m in, I got three little kids. I’m not giving up that time with them for any opportunity.”
ESPN did not respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.
