Sage Steele (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Sage Steele is suing her agents over what she believes was improper handling of her departure from ESPN.

Steele, a former anchor at The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is still a client at CAA, but she has filed a lawsuit against longtime representative Matthew Kramer for a breach of fiduciary duty.

Variety has obtained the suit, which was filed at the L.A. Superior Court on Tuesday morning. It claims that Kramer prioritized his relationship with ESPN over Steele. The agent was also working on contracts for insiders Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski at the time.

“After trusting CAA for nearly a decade, I am beyond disappointed that my agents and legal advisors chose to abandon me and not fulfill their obligation to represent me when I needed them most,” Steele told the publication.

Kramer, CAA’s co-head of sports media, has been Sage Steele’s agent for the past 11 years. He is accused of lying to her by saying the head of CAA legal would review her contract before handing it to a junior attorney.

The agency has been trying to get Steele to pay fees they claim are still owed from a proceeding with the California Labor Commission.

Sage Steele Never Wanted To Apologize To ESPN

Sage Steele was suspended by ESPN after going on the ‘Uncut’ podcast with Jay Cutler and revealing she was forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. She subsequently apologized but later claimed she was forced to do so.

Cutler’s podcast was not affiliated with the network, and according to the suit, she recorded it on her day off. The documents claim that CAA should have informed her that her employee could not reprimand her for free speech under Connecticut law but urged her to apologize to ESPN instead.

“Her long-term career prospects have been immeasurably damaged as a result of her reasonable reliance on the advice and counsel of CAA,” the suit states. “Moreover, she has suffered enormous emotional, mental, and physical harms resulting from the stress of being left by CAA to twist in the wind rather than standing up for her rights.”

CAA has, of course, denied the accusations, adding that Steele is trying to avoid paying the commissions she still owes.

“CAA’s agents unequivocally acted only in her best interest to help her navigate the controversy she created; yet, now, she denies the agency’s valuable support, skill, and judgment despite having repeatedly expressed her gratitude in numerous written communications throughout that time period,” CAA’s attorney Patrick J. Somers told Variety.