Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele says fighting hypocrisy was at the heart of her lawsuit against ESPN, and she’s proud of sticking up for what she believes in.

“We’re very open about everyone being able to be who they are unless they’re biracial and you choose to say you’re biracial and not Black,” Steele said in her first cable news interview on NewsNation’s “Morning In America.”

Steele took an undisclosed settlement from ESPN after she sued the network for their reaction to her comments on the “Uncut with Jay Cutler” podcast in 2021. She questioned why former President Barack Obama would identify as Black and not biracial when he was primarily raised by his white mother.

“Context is essential as journalists,” Steele told NewsNation. “When you look at the entire clip it was just me repeating what had happened in 2014 and how this has been a topic my whole life.”

“I’m pretty sure my white mom was there when I was born, so for everyone saying I need to identify as Black and join the movement, who am I to tell anyone how to identify?” She said later. “And that goes both ways.”

She also called ESPN’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy for in-office workers “scary” and “sick” on the podcast appearance, but did comply and received the shot before the company’s deadline so she could keep working.