A rep for the late Barbara Walters says Sage Steele's claim that the famous journalist once attacked her is 'impossible to believe'

• Former ESPN journalist Sage Steele spoke to Megyn Kelly on Thursday.
• Steele said Barbara Walters elbowed and pushed her during her stint on "The View" in 2014.

A rep for Barbara Walters' estate denied that the late award-winning journalist "elbowed" Sage Steele during Steele's cohosting stint on "The View" in 2014.

"I find this impossible to believe and uncharacteristic of Barbara!" the rep said in a statement emailed to Insider Saturday.

Steele, a former ESPN journalist, made the accusation Thursday during an appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show." Steele said the alleged run-in with Walters, who died in December 2022, happened after a segment discussing former President Barack Obama.

Walters co-founded "The View" in 1997 and retired from TV work in 2014, the same year Steele cohosted.

"It was Barbara, Whoopi and myself in the dark green room off to the side," Steele said. "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."

Steele said she was shocked by the alleged behavior.

"I was like, 'What did mmm just do to me? This 140-year-old woman just tried to like tackle me,'" she said. "Some of the producers saw it. Whoopi saw it. 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.'"

She added: "And I'm like, 'Am I in a movie right now?' One of the legends in this industry just tried to beat me up!"

When contacted by Insider, a rep for Steele referred to a tweet the former ESPN host shared Friday.

"This might be the best meme I've seen on this yet," she said, referring to a meme. "While reporters/outlets are using the world 'assault' I've been cracking up over this since it happened in 2014!"

Representatives for Goldberg and The View did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside regular working hours.