“First Take” host Stephen A. Smith has finally spoken on the explosive $50 million rape lawsuit filed against his guest co-host, NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.
This comes about the same time on Tuesday afternoon, April 22, that Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis, admitted, according to the Daily Mail, that his famous client offered the unidentified woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” a $10 million settlement. For some reason, she suddenly backed out and filed the legal documents seeking five times that total.
Jane Does claims that Sharpe, who created the ultra popular podcast “Club Shay Shay” as well as “Nightcap,” raped her on two occasions between November 2024 and January 2025.
The woman was 20 when she met the 56-year-old former NFL tight end at a Los Angeles gym in 2023, and said the two engaged in a consensual sexual relationship until the latter part of 2024.
For the record, Sharpe has vehemently and categorically denied the woman’s claims and vows to file a countersuit for defamation against the woman. Jane Doe is being represented by famed attorney Tony Buzbee, who came to fame for filing similar suits against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z, though the latter case was dismissed against the RocNation founder.
Smith’s popularity remains high
Smith may be at the peak of his popularity after signing a $100 million deal with ESPN to continue to lead “First Take.” He indicated he is considering a presidential run in 2028, and spoke about the dilemma he and Sharpe are in.
“I don’t know where this is going to go; I can’t speak to anything else,” Smith said. “I don’t know who Shannon Sharpe’s legal team is and what they’re suggesting.”
Smith said he and Sharpe spoke before the latter came onto the ultra-popular “First Take” show on Tuesday morning. “I imagine everything that has transpired has been at the behest of his lawyers, not just himself. I can tell you again that when I spoke to him, he is emphatic in stating his innocence, that this is a shakedown, to use his words.”
“How wise is it to use those kind of words when a civil matter of this nature is out there, when you have a podcast and you have advertisers and sponsors and you work for ESPN and they have advertisers and sponsors, I don’t know,” Smith said on his eponymous YouTube show.
“What can we say if any of us were in that position and we felt or were proclaiming that we were innocent? I don’t know,” Smith continued. “And I’m not about to pretend. I just wanted to make sure that I echoed to all of you that the only reason I spoke on this issue is because he works with me two days a week.”
Smith continued, adding, “He’s on national television. He was on national television with me today. He was on national television with me yesterday when the story came out Sunday night. I didn’t know anything about it until we got on the air. But he was on-air.”
The bombastic “First Take” producer said that “everybody’s been waiting like, ‘Stephen A, what you got to say about this?’ I got to say what I just told you.”
Smith avoids ‘irresponsible’ comment
Smith said he has no idea what what went down but that he prays that Sharpe’s innocent.
“But anything else would be entirely irresponsible for me to speak on and I can’t do that. Yes I own this, this is my platform. But I also have a day job and I also understand what lawyers, what HR, and all those other things entail,” Smith said.
“What I said is all I can say and in all honesty, at this moment, it is all I know. I have no idea what direction ESPN and Walt Disney will go in when it comes to this matter. All I do know is, it won’t be me making the decision, it will be others upstairs.”
