I thought I covered the Shannon Sharpe situation as it was happening in April, but I guess I skipped it because the story seemed so sensitive. In April, a woman (Jane Doe in the lawsuit) sued Sharpe for emotional and physical abuse. Sharpe, a longtime ESPN commentator and sports personality, tried to fight back and say that Doe is a jilted ex and he never did anything to her. ESPN suspended Sharpe back in April, and there was a feeling that they were doing their own in-house investigation and/or they hoped that Sharpe would simply settle with his ex quietly and make it all go away. Well, apparently Sharpe did settle with Doe and she withdrew the lawsuit… but ESPN is still firing him.
ESPN has cut ties with NFL Hall of Famer and media analyst Shannon Sharpe less than two weeks after he settled a lawsuit in which his ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic on Wednesday.
Sharpe has not been on ESPN since late April, when the suit was first filed. He said at the time that he would return to ESPN at the beginning of NFL training camp. ESPN declined to comment.
The woman, known as “Jane Doe” in the suit, was seeking $50 million for “pain and suffering, psychological and emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation.” Sharpe publicly denied the allegations immediately after his accuser filed the suit in April, calling the case a “shakedown” attempt. He has maintained that he and the Nevada woman were in a consensual sexual relationship.
Since retiring from the NFL, Sharpe, 57, has had a long media career, first as an NFL studio analyst and then as a sports talk host at FS1, where he rose to greater prominence debating Skip Bayless on “Undisputed.” After that run ended in 2023, Sharpe joined “First Take” as a twice-weekly foil for Stephen A. Smith.
Sharpe continues to have his podcasts “Club Shay Shay” and “Nightcap,” where he teams up with former wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, both of which are currently distributed by The Volume in an agreement that concludes at the end of August, according to sources briefed on the deal. Before the suit became public in April, Sharpe was closing in on a major podcast deal that may have been worth as much as $100 million, as Front Office Sports reported at the time and sources briefed on the situation confirmed to The Athletic.
Club Shay Shay gave Sharpe’s career a huge boost, especially with the younger demographic. Clips from Club Shay Shay regularly go viral. It sounds like those shows/podcasts are in flux though, and I wonder if they’ll continue. It definitely doesn’t sound like Sharpe is still in talks for a $100 million podcast deal. As for the rest of it… I’m not surprised that he quietly settled with Doe, but I am surprised that ESPN still fired him. I wonder what the in-house investigation found?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Shannon Sharpe on court before the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Chicago Bulls at Crytpo.com Arena, Los Angeles, on 26 March 2023.,Image: 765343406, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: JERRY PEREZ/Avalon
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- NEW YORK, NY – MAY 13: Shannon Sharpe at The 28th Annual Webby Awards on May 13, 2024 at Cipriani Wall St in New York City. Copyright: xmpi099x,Image: 872788966, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/mpi099/Avalon
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- NEW YORK, NY – MAY 13: Shannon Sharpe at The 28th Annual Webby Awards on May 13, 2024 at Cipriani Wall St in New York City. Copyright: xmpi099x,Image: 872789073, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/mpi099/Avalon
Kat Williams said it would be the year of reckoning did he not? Although Trump was re-elected president so I don’t know that it really was one. For Shannon maybe.
He’s a predator and punk. I’ve never liked that man and am not surprised he’s been dumped by ESPN.
He’s also a misogynist and a colorist. He told his own daughter he was only giving her 30k for her wedding and her guests could eat spaghetti. He once said he doesn’t date his age but his wage 🙄. I’m not surprised they fired him. BM like him cozy up to white people and he thinks he’s one of them but failed to understand that it will not protect him.
ESPN isn’t The Guardian, meaning there not just standing on morality over revenue – I feel convinced they had damning evidence and some of it sounds like from reports Diddyesque. Where there’s one, there’s more and I bet that they found evidence that made them want to significantly distance.
Will Club Shay Shay still be on? I like it, but can’t watch him anymore.
His distributor called I think “The Value” is ending soon – and given the distancing by a heavy hitter like ESPN I think they’ll prob drag their feet and see what the fallout is.
Yeah, he wasn’t quiet. He put her name out there and talked about details of their ‘relationship’ and said it was tumultuous and consensual. The usual abuser defense. I wish her healing and peace.
So while I would like to think that ESPN fired him because of things that turned up in the investigation, its also likely they saw this as an opportunity to get rid of a bigger name (who costs them more money) in favor of a newcomer. ESPN does this pretty regularly and it annoys me because it doesn’t seem to take into account talent on-air (I wasnt the biggest fan of Sharpe, but just saying generally – they often let on-air talent go even if those people were actually good.)
I did like him before this. Just goes to show the likeable nice guy with a sense of humor can ABSOLUTELY be a monster behind closed doors. Super scary, but true.
A fool and his money (and his career, apparently) are soon parted.