Comedian Bill Maher is launching his own podcast network and has reportedly
hired conservative Sage Steele, a former ESPN anchor, to be his first host.

Maher, who is known for hosting HBO�s �Real Time,� told The Hollywood
Reporter that he is building his network on the foundation of �freedom of
expression.�

�I am looking for people who are not talking-point people,� Maher said. �I�m
looking for people who don�t, before they speak, say, �What�s the right
answer here?'�

Steele parted ways with ESPN last year after settling a lawsuit with the
company in which she alleged that the network � whose hosts have routinely
engaged in promoting left-wing politics � retaliated against her for remarks
that she made about vaccine mandates and that her free speech had been
violated.

�Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to
leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,� Steele said
in a social media post last year. �I am grateful for so many wonderful
experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!�

Maher told THR that Steele was �the perfect choice to be our first new host
because, like me, she pissed off Disney.�

�These are not rookies, these are grown-ass adult, mature, fun, unafraid
people,� Maher says. �So I don�t worry about them, and I certainly wouldn�t
dream of micromanagement. I mean, they are their own people. And that�s what
we want.�

The publication said that Steele is focused on having �conversations, not
interviews� with notable figures ranging from athletes, executives, actors,
comedians, to politicians.

�What I�ve always tried to dig out during my career is the �why� behind
people and get that human interest story,� Steele told the publication. �You
realize that by sharing your story, others can benefit as well. I�ve gotten
thousands of emails over the last couple of years since I kind of became
controversial and started getting canceled, from people saying, �Oh my gosh,
thank you for sharing,� �Oh my gosh, I�m afraid too,� and �Oh my gosh, please
don�t be quiet, you�re speaking for me.� So that�s where this came from. I�ve
always had that curiosity, but now I know firsthand what it�s like when you
open up and are vulnerable and share.�

�It�s not even about me or Bill, this is about the big picture, and what I
believe and Bill believes is missing in this country, which is true
conversation and listening. I mean, since my controversies began � and long
before that, actually � people who know me knew my biggest priority is
diversity of thought, and if we don�t have that we have nothing,� she
continued. �Bill, by saying, �You�re gonna be my first hire for my new
podcast network,� he is living that, he�s practicing what he preaches because
you look at just the basic issues, right? He thinks marriage is a joke, and
kids are annoying. And he�s an atheist. I was married for 20 years. I have
three kids and I am a strong Christian Catholic.�

�We could not be more different in many, many, many important ways. But we
also think the same on some of the core issues that are dividing this country
right now, like the craziness at the border with immigration laws, with what
happened with the vaccine mandates � not the vaccine, the vaccine mandates �
with the transgender sports issue. We�re on the same page with that, and we
were able to find that out through that conversation on his podcast last
fall,� she added.

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Let's go Brandon!