The $50 million rape lawsuit filed against NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe is so explosive and explicit that the renowned sports commentator has decided to step away from ESPN indefinitely.
Sharpe notified his 2 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had decided to “step aside” indefinitely from the popular “First Take” talk show as he navigates through this treacherous legal terrain.
Shannon Sharpe is out at ESPN
The former Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens tight end came to ESPN after leaving Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed” talk show in 2023. The sports company also released a quick statement, essentially agreeing with Sharpe’s decision to take a moratorium from the worldwide sports leader.
ESPN and parent company Disney are investigating
Meanwhile, ESPN, which is owned by Disney, intends to “further investigate” the matter, according to what Stephen A. Smith said on his self-titled YouTube show on Wednesday, April 23. Sharpe continues to emphatically deny the woman’s accusations and denounced the lawsuit as a “shakedown.” He maintains that they had a BDSM — bondage and submission, sadism and masochism — sexual relationship that was always consensual.
The sordid case explained
In an explicit lawsuit filed in Clark County in Las Vegas on April 20, the woman identified as “Jane Doe” said she and Sharpe met at a Los Angeles gym in 2023 and began having sexual relations not too long thereafter.
The plaintiff said she was hurt when Sharpe claims he “accidentally” livestreamed himself on Instagram having sex with another woman in the summer of 2024, which she said humiliated her. That is when Jane Doe claims she began to pull back from the “First Take” co-host in October 2024. However, she states that Sharpe became very aggressive to get her back and raped her twice between December 2024 and January 2025. She is accusing Sharpe of assault, sexual assault, battery, and sexual battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress. She seeks $50 million in actual and punitive damages.
“After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than 30 years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of ‘no,” the 13-page filing claims, according to the documents obtained by Deadlline.
Legal pundits believe Shannon Sharpe inadvertently complicated matters for himself
Matters may have been made more precarious for Sharpe when, via his attorney Lanny Davis, he released text messages that are considered extremely graphic and vile. The strategy was to try to prove that the female accuser was often the aggressor and initiated the sexual activity.
Sharpe’s public image took another hit with the revelation by the attorney that the creator of the “Club Shay Shay” and “Nightcap” podcasts had offered the plaintiff $10 million to keep everything quiet, thus sounding the alarm bells at ESPN.
“Sharpe’s team is now trying to discredit and dox her. Sharpe and his team are now, as anticipated, also attacking me. We are not going to be deterred by these tactics.” Buzbee then played an audio tape on April 22 of a man who sounds similar to Sharpe threatening Jane Doe, saying, “I’m going to f–king choke the s–t out of you when I see you,” the audio said, according to TMZ.
