Sage Steele claims Barbara Walters 'tried to beat me up' in the green room of 'The View'

Sage Steele has claimed that Barbara Walters tried to assault her after a segment on Barack Obama in The View's greenroom.

On Thursday, the former SportsCenter anchor told Megyn Kelly about the alleged 2014 incident during an episode of The Megyn Kelly Show podcast.

"It was Barbara, Whoopi [Goldberg] and myself in the dark green room off to the side," Steele began. "I was probably about four feet from the wall and the trash can, and Barbara was standing over here in front of me. She just started to back up toward me and looked at me and got close and elbowed me, and it pushed me back into the wall and the trash can. I was like, ‘What did [she] just do to me? This 140-year-old woman just tried to like tackle me.'"

Walters, who created, produced and co-hosted The View for 17 seasons, passed away in 2022 at age 93. At the time of the incident Steele is describing, she would have been about 85 years old. A representative for the Walters estate told Yahoo, "I find this impossible to believe and uncharacteristic of Barbara!"

Steele alleges that The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg was a witness to the event. "Some of the producers saw it. Whoopi saw it," the 50-year-old sportscaster claimed.

"And Whoopi was like, 'Come here.' She was great. She pulled me aside in her little area and she’s like, ‘Don’t you let her do it.' And I’m like, 'Am I in a movie right now?' One of the legends in this industry just tried to beat me up!"

Yahoo has reached out to Goldberg’s representatives for a comment regarding the matter.

Steele is not the only celebrity to have claimed to have had an aggressive encounter with the late star. In June, Rosie O'Donnell told The Hollywood Reporter that she'd had a screaming match with Walters, with whom she had a friendship before being hired. She said the dispute stemmed from Walters not supporting her amid another feud — with Donald Trump — and it escalated when O'Donnell made a comment about Walters' daughter.

Steele also used her time on The Megyn Kelly Show podcast to discuss her recent departure from ESPN. In 2022, the TV host sued the network and its parent company, Disney, for allegedly violating her contract and her free speech. The lawsuit came after Steele made contentious statements about ESPN’s COVID policy and former President Obama.

The ex-host informed Kelly that she’d had assignments taken away and that she was compelled to apologize before being allowed back on air. "I did not want to apologize," Steele said. "I fought. I fought and I begged and I screamed, and I was told that if I want to keep my job, I have to apologize. … I knew there was a line somewhere. I just didn’t know where it was until I crossed it."