Barbara Walters was the queen of provocative questions — and apparently a good harder-hitting elbow.
Sage Steele, the previous ESPN anchor who recently left the sports network after settling a lawsuit, claimed that she had a run-in with the late Barbara Walters backstage at “The View” in 2014.
“It was Barbara, Whoopi [Goldberg], and myself at nighttime green room off to the side,” Steele recalled on Thursday’s episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“I used to be probably about 4 feet from the wall and the trash can, and Barbara was standing over here in front of me. She just began to back up toward me and checked out me and got close and elbowed me, and it pushed me back into the wall and the trash can,” alleged Steele, 50, of the news icon, who died in December 2022 at age 93.
“I used to be like, ‘What did [she] just do to me? This 140-year-old woman just tried to, like, tackle me.’
“A number of the producers saw it. Whoopi saw it,” Steele continued. “And Whoopi was like, ‘Come here.’ She was great. She pulled me aside in her little area and she or he’s like, ‘Don’t you let her do it.’ And I’m like, ‘Am I in a movie immediately? One among the legends on this industry just tried to beat me up!’ ”
When contacted by The Post, a representative for Walters’ estate said in an announcement: “I find this inconceivable to consider and uncharacteristic of Barbara!”
The Post also has contacted reps for Steele, Goldberg and “The View” for comment.
In 2021, Steele spoke on the “Uncut with Jay Cutler” podcast about an appearance on “The View” when she said Walters “ripped me on live TV after which afterwards” on why it was “so essential” for her to discover as biracial when former President Barack Obama identified only as a black man.
Steele called the way in which Obama identified “fascinating, considering his black dad was nowhere to be found.”
The podcast appearance, through which Steele also discussed being forced to get the COVID-19 vaccination and controversial takes on how women dress, resulted in ESPN yanking her off the air.
Steele then filed a lawsuit against ESPN and its parent company, Disney, claiming the network retaliated against her after the interview by taking away high-profile assignments and further claiming they violated her right to free speech.
On Tuesday, Steele announced she had settled her lawsuit against ESPN and was leaving the corporate.
“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I even have decided to go away so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,” Steele wrote in an announcement. “I’m grateful for thus many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!”
Walters died at her home last 12 months after reportedly affected by advanced dementia.
