In 2021, ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele was suspended following comments she made on a podcast, including calling parent company Disney’s vaccine mandates “sick” and questioning why Barack Obama considers himself Black when he was raised by his white mother. When she returned to her job, she felt she’d been sidelined from key on-air opportunities. So she dialed one of her closest friends, Chris Harrison, for advice. They’d gotten to know each other while co-hosting the Miss America pageant and the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He, too, had recently lost a big gig — as host of ABC’s The Bachelor, after defending a contestant accused of racism.

“Chris said, ‘I know who you need to talk to — my lawyer….