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Amidst Riley Gaines' vocal disapproval of former swimmer Lia Thomas, sports journalist Samantha Steele Ponder revealed the aftermath of the Women's History Month feature. The journalist had been fired from ESPN last year over her alleged support for the swimmer-turned-social activist.
Almost a year later, the journalist finally opened up on what actually happened. In a conversation with YouTuber Sage Steele on the 'Sage Steele Show,' Ponder revealed why she protested against the inclusion of Lia Thomas in the Women's History Month by ESPN. In her words,
"That was sort of the start of all of it. It was in 2023; they [ESPN] did a feature on Lia Thomas for Women's History Month, and that just did something to me. Like it, I don't know why; it's like kind of emotional to me. But like, man, there's so many incredible women that have dealt with all the struggles that come that are unique to womanhood, and for the company to say, 'We are basically going to take that spot. We're going to give it to someone who, by their own admission, has only 'become a woman' within the last year. Yes, I mean it was Will Thomas on the team the year before."
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In May 2023, Samantha Ponder shared Riley Gaines' post on her X account [previously Twitter] in her support as she maintained that it wasn't unfair to demand fairness in sports for girls. However, she received backlash for those comments, with some even calling her a 'transphobe.'
When Riley Gaines applauded Sage Steele for speaking about Lia Thomas
![When Riley Gaines backed Sage Steele [Image Source : Getty]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/07/e9630-17527152434801-1920.jpg)
Riley Gaines had previously supported Samantha Ponder and Sage Steele for their stance against Lia Thomas. Steele had previously served ESPN as a sports commentator until she was removed in 2021 for her alleged comments against the previous administration.
In Gaines' podcast for the Outkick channel titled Gaines for Girls, Steele appeared last year in March 2024, where she revealed that despite being a former employee of ESPN, she was forbidden to speak against Lia Thomas, just like Samantha Ponder.
“I was asked to stop tweeting about it. I was asked to stop doing anything, or saying anything about it on social media because I was offending others at the company. I made sure I sent up another tweet that night after I received that email because like, no," Sage said.
The journalist further added,
"And it’s, let’s stop living in this lie. And once again, oh, you’re going to you’re to silence me and Sam. She was told the same thing, for this issue, but they were going to let everybody else talk about all these other things that are not even related to sports on our sports programming."
Riley Gaines had spoken against the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports since 2022.
