EXCLUSIVE: TV host Sage Steele has replaced Candace Owens in the voice cast of The Daily Wire’s upcoming animated sitcom Mr. Birchumafter the latter recently left the right-wing news platform.
The former ESPN anchor joins Megyn Kelly, Brett Cooper, Adam Carolla (who also directs), Roseanne Barr, Danny Trejo, Rob Riggle, Patrick Warburton, Tyler Fischer, Alonzo Bodden, Kyle Dunnigan and Jay Mohr. Steele will play the role of Deena, who is married to Mr. Birchum’s best buddy Gage. This role was previously supposed to be played by Owens.
According to the producers, “Carolla voices Mr. Birchum, a no-nonsense teacher who navigates Teddy Roosevelt Junior High with his family – Wendi (Kelly), Eddie (Dunnigan) and stepdaughter Jeanie (Cooper) – along with his friend Gage (Bodden), Mr. Birchum competes against a young student named Karponzi (Fischer), who is involved in various social justice campaigns.
“Birkum also has the help of a few fantasy mentors – the ghost of his gym teacher, Coach Murphy (Mohr), and his childhood frozen dinner icon, Burly Man (Warburton). He even receives support from the sick and tired Principal Bortles (Barr), who wishes she were retired when she takes on his Army nemesis Gunderson (Riggle) with Navy friends, and reformed gang member Switchblade (Trejo), that a tattooed hand gives him a house to build for charity.”
“When I got the call from Adam and the Daily Wire team asking if I wanted to be a part of it Mr. Birchum“It was a no-brainer for me!” said Steele. “I am a huge fan of everyone involved and feel honored to be part of such a powerful group of comedians. In this crazy cultural moment, it’s more important than ever to tell the truth, even when it’s unpopular. Mr. Birchum does it in such a hilarious way and I’m thrilled to be part of such a fun, uncompromising project.”
During his tenure at ESPN, Steele made headlines in 2021 for speaking out against the company’s vaccine mandates. Steele later sued ESPN and settled the case in 2023 before leaving the sports network. Last month, Bill Maher announced the release of her book of the same name The Sage Steele Showcurrently streaming on YouTube, as the first show on his new podcast network Club Random Studios.
Mr. Birchum Premiering Sunday, May 12, on DailyWire+.
DailyWire+’s first animated comedy is produced by David Coleman for Daily Wire and Dallas Sonnier for Bonfire Legend, with Daily Wire’s Jeremy Boreing, Ben Shapiro and Caleb Robinson serving as executive producers. Chassy Media is the show’s physical production company and Chassy Media executive producers are Adam Carolla and Mike August, as well as showrunner/executive producer Nate Adams and supervising producer Curtis Koller. Mike Lynch is the series’ head writer, with additional episodes written by Byron Kavanagh and Mark Hoffmeier.