The Pro Football Hall of Fame member took time off from work earlier this year to battle the lawsuit, but vowed to be back on air.
While Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and media analyst Shannon Sharpe had previously vowed to return when he stepped away after a lawsuit was filed in April, it appears the Shannon Sharpe era is over at ESPN. According to The Athletic and the Associated Press, ESPN has formally dissolved its relationship with the former NFL player.
Less than two weeks have passed since Sharpe and his ex-girlfriend reached a $50 million settlement in their rape and sexual assault case. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The lawsuit originally sought compensatory and punitive damages of more than $50 million.
At the time of the settlement, the accuser’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, said, “Both sides acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship. After protracted and respectful negotiations, I’m pleased to announce that we have reached a mutually agreed-upon resolution. All matters have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”
Sharpe had initially strongly denied the allegations and stepped away from his role at ESPN, where he was featured on First Take.
“To my family, friends, supporters, and colleagues, I want to speak to you directly and from the heart,” Sharpe said in a video released on X in April. “This is a shakedown. I’m going to be open, transparent, and defend myself, because this isn’t right.”
Later that same week, Sharpe posted a statement on social media describing his relationship with the plaintiff as “100% consensual.”
“I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me,” he said in that April 24 statement, which additionally included him noting that he planned to return to ESPN at the start of NFL preseason.
In the suit filed in a Las Vegas district court, “Jane Doe” accused former NFL All-Pro of “manipulating and controlling” the plaintiff during a nearly two-year period that started in 2023 as a consensual relationship when the woman was 20 years old.
The civil complaint alleged Sharpe, 56, “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff,” in October 2024 and again in January of this year in Las Vegas, “blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop.”
The suit stated: “After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty 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.’”
Sharpe, 57, initially joined “First Take” in the fall of 2023 after leaving FS1’s “Undisputed” with Skip Bayless earlier in the year. ESPN had signed a multi-year contract extension in 2024. The Pro Football Hall of Famer was going to see his role on First Take expand & extend to additional ESPN programming.
After winning three Super Bowls — two with the Denver Broncos and one with the Baltimore Ravens — and earning eight Pro Bowl nods, Sharpe enjoyed stardom in the media industry as well. Following an eventual run on FS1’s “Undisputed,” during which he debated Skip Bayless, Sharpe made the move to ESPN, where he sparred verbally with Stephen A. Smith on “First Take.”
While Sharpe has been off the ESPN airwaves since April, Sharpe continues to host his popular podcasts, “Club Shay Shay,” and he’s remained active on the podcast “Nightcap,” co-hosted and former NFL wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
The Athletic confirmed a report Wednesday from Front Office Sports that was published before the lawsuit went public and that stated Sharpe was approaching a podcast deal in the $100 million range.
The Athletic reported that criminal charges were not brought against Sharpe, stating that his accuser cannot resubmit the same allegation against him in the same Las Vegas court because the lawsuit was “dismissed with prejudice.”
