Conservative Anchor Ashley Brewer Says ESPN 'Chewed Her Out' For Picture with GOP Lawmaker, Before Firing

This week, former ESPN anchor Sage Steele accused the network of "considering conservative viewpoints a much greater offense than questionable character." 

Steele's remarks were in reference to ESPN pondering the future of Shannon Sharpe following a civil lawsuit alleging he raped a 19-year-old woman. The lawsuit is not the first in which a woman has accused Sharpe of sexual misconduct. ESPN hired him anyway.

Another former ESPN anchor responded to Steele's post with her own experience as a conservative at the company, recalling a time management "chewed" her out for a photo.

"Never forget when I got chewed out by my boss for posting a pic of a republican congressman & UFC fighter on my instagram story at the Mcgregor fight. LOL," Ashley Brewer Kaminsky wrote to Steele on X.

"And @ashbrewkaminsky remember when we got chewed out for breaking Covid rules by standing too close to each other and posting this pic?" Steele responded.

For background, ESPN fired Brewer in 2023 during a mass layoff of on-air talent. However, unlike the other cuts, Brewer was not overpaid (like Max Kellerman) or mailing it in (like Keyshawn Johnson). Brewer was just 29 at the time and was viewed as one of the more promising young studio hosts in the industry.

Moreover, ESPN retained Brewer's 1 am "SportsCenter" co-host Stan Verrett, who made more than double her salary. Executives wanted to cut Creepy Verrett but feared retaliation because he was the only black anchor in Los Angeles at the time, sources say.

So, ESPN laid off the young white conservative woman instead.

And while it is hardly surprising to learn that management reprimanded Brewer for taking a photo with a Republican member of Congress, it doesn't make the decision any less egregious.

See, if ESPN yelled at all employees who took photos with politicians, Brewer would not have grounds to complain. But that's not the case.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 09: Ashley Brewer attends Byron Allen's 4th Annual Oscar Gala to Benefit Children's Hospital Los Angeles at the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on February 09, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Entertainment Studios)

In fact, Mark Jones' X page includes a banner of him laughing with Barack Obama. Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser have posed for several photos with Obama. Mina Kimes previously posted a photo with Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass while asking her followers to vote for Bass.

ESPN didn't yell at them or order them to delete those photos immediately.

Further, Brewer faced more scrutiny from management than Elle Duncan did for holding an unplanned moment of silence live on-air over the "don't say gay" bill, Malika Andrews criticizing abortion laws, Mark Jones sharing a post calling MAGA women "skanks," Sarah Spain calling religion "bullshit," Kimes fawning over Tampon Tim Walz, and so many other cases that you can read about here.

But, according to Jemele Hill, ESPN does not have a liberal bias.

Put simply, if Ashley Brewer were a liberal – and had the same talent, energy, looks, and knowledge – she would already be one of the biggest stars at ESPN. She would be well ahead of Duncan and Andrews in the pecking order of studio hosts. She'd be the next Charissa Thompson. 

And yet, she was laid off – just like Sam Ponder.

In fact, ESPN had just three openly conservative talents at the network two years ago, with Brewer, Ponder, and Steele. Now, it has none.

As Steele stated, ESPN was more bothered by the three women sharing moderately conservative views than by Shannon Sharpe accidentally streaming a live sex tape and threatening to choke out a woman on the phone.