Shannon Sharpe has introduced he will probably be “briefly” stepping away from his duties at ESPN as he fights the $50 million rape and battery lawsuit in opposition to him.
“That is the reality. The connection in query was 100% consensual,” Sharpe claimed in an announcement posted through X Thursday.
“At this juncture, I’m electing to step apart briefly from my ESPN duties. I will probably be devoting this time to my household, and responding and coping with these false and disruptive allegations set in opposition to me.”
The sports activities character, 56, shared that he plans to return to the community for the NFL preseason in early August.
“I sincerely recognize the overwhelming and ongoing assist I’ve obtained from my household, followers, mates and colleagues,” he concluded.
ESPN responded to Sharpe’s announcement, telling Web page Six in an announcement: “It is a severe state of affairs, and we agree with Shannon’s resolution to step away.”
“First Take” host Stephen A. Smith beforehand addressed the previous NFL star’s potential future with ESPN on Smith’s eponymous podcast Tuesday.
“I can inform you I additionally spoke to co-chairman of Disney, the boss, Jimmy Pitaro, who made it very, very clear [that ESPN] is taking this matter very severely and we’re wanting into this very, very intently and as soon as we collect as many info as we probably can, we’ll go from there,” Smith, 57, informed listeners.
The bombshell rape lawsuit in opposition to Sharpe was filed by a girl known as Jane Doe in Nevada on Sunday.
Doe claims she was sexually assaulted by the “Membership Shay Shay” podcast host on quite a few events all through their “rocky” years-long relationship.
She alleges Sharpe first raped her in October 2024 whereas she was “crying and sobbing.” The second sexual assault allegedly happened in January when he came visiting to her home.
The previous NFL player-turned-broadcaster has denied all of her allegations.
Earlier this week, Sharpe’s authorized staff launched varied express textual content messages allegedly exchanged along with his rape accuser between March 2023 and January 2025.
“The proof paints a transparent image: this was a consensual, grownup relationship that included role-playing, sexual language and fantasy situations explicitly requested by [Doe],” Sharpe’s legal professional, Lanny J. Davis, claimed in an announcement.
In the meantime, Web page Six obtained an audio recording from Doe’s legal professional, Tony Buzbee, on which the soccer legend can purportedly be heard threatening to “choke the s–t” out of her.
Previous to the lawsuit submitting, Sharpe allegedly supplied Doe $10 million to settle throughout mediation to resolve the difficulty.
Davis claimed that Doe “demanded tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} … in return for her not publishing” a intercourse tape that either side agree exists.
For those who or somebody you realize is affected by any of the problems raised on this story, name the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
