The future for
Shannon Sharpe
with ESPN is up in the air, according to Stephen A. Smith.
On his eponymous show, Smith shared that deliberations between ESPN and their parent company, Disney, are ongoing about
Sharpe amid his rape allegations.
While Smith admitted that he is “not the boss,” he has given a little insight inside on what is going on behind the scenes amid Sharpe’s employment with the network. Sharpe was “recruited” by Smith to join him on First Take in June 2023.
“I can tell you I also spoke to co-chairman of Disney, the boss, Jimmy Pitaro, who made it very, very clear [that ESPN] is taking this matter very seriously and we are looking into this very, very closely and once we gather as many facts as we possibly can, we will go from there,” he explained.
“And that is all he said. And I can mention his name because I received his permission to say that.”
Smith revealed that the information he shared is everything he knows at the moment and has “no idea what direction ESPN and Disney will go in when it comes to this matter.”
Sharpe is being sued for $50 million by Jane Doe, who claims that the former NFL star “brutally sexually assaulted her at the end of 2024 and again at the beginning of 2025.” In addition to her claim, alleged audio and text messages of explicit conversations have also been made public. In one of the phone calls,
Sharpe allegedly says, “I’m going to f–king choke the s–t out of you.”
Doe shared that she met the athlete in the gym in 2023 and was in a “rocky consensual relationship” with him for nearly two years.
Stephen A. Smith Breaks Silence On Shannon Sharpe Rape Lawsuit
Smith broke his silence on Sharpe’s legal situation
and shared that he is “rooting” for him.
“Shannon Sharpe is somebody I work with a couple of days a week,” Smith said about Sharpe on his podcast on Tuesday. “Shannon Sharpe is somebody I brought to ESPN … We’ve grown close as friends … I certainly root for him.”
He also added that he cannot “speak to his innocence or guilt from a knowledgeable place.”
“Even though I got love and respect for Shannon Sharpe, and I’m sincerely hopeful and prayerful that he is completely innocent of the allegations that have been levied against him,” Smith said.
“In my perfect world … the case is ultimately dropped and Shannon is allowed to continue ‘First Take’ and continue to thrive and shine and have an illustrious career in the podcast stratosphere,” he continued. “In my perfect world, he moves on, and somehow, some way, we find this all to be false.”
However, he noted that “it doesn’t seem like that’s the way things are about to go down.”
Sharpe also denied the allegations and claimed that it was a “shakedown” to get money from him.
“I’m gonna be open, transparent and defend myself because this isn’t right. This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z,” the Pro Football Hall of Famer said, referring to Jane Doe’s lawyer in a video on Instagram Tuesday, April 22.
“Tony Buzbee targets black men, and I believe he’s going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty, and plays into every stereotype you could possibly imagine. That video should actually be 10 minutes or so,” Sharpe continued.
Sharpe called out Buzbee and shared that if he were to put out an alleged sex tape between the two, then he should put an uncut version.
“Hey Tony, instead of releasing your edit, put the whole video out. I don’t have it, or I would myself. You know what happened, and you’re trying to manipulate the media. The encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation, and now that appears to be a deliberate setup.”
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ESPN deliberating over Shannon Sharpe future amid rape lawsuit, Stephen A. Smith says
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