ESPN cuts ties with Shannon Sharpe after settlement of sexual assault lawsuit: Report
Shannon Sharpe won’t be returning to ESPN, according to The Athletic, which reported Wednesday the network has parted ways with the Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and media analyst.
The news comes less than two weeks after Sharpe settled a sexual assault lawsuit brought forth by a former romantic partner, who accused Sharpe of sexual assault and battery.
Sharpe, 57, signed a multi-year contract with ESPN in 2024, but he hasn’t appeared on the network since the lawsuit was filed in April.
At the time, Sharpe initially called the lawsuit a “shakedown” in a video he posted to Instagram, claiming that the woman’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, “targets Black men.”
Later that same week, Sharpe posted a statement on social media describing his relationship with the plaintiff as “100% consensual.”
He also said, however, that he was “electing to step aside temporarily” from his ESPN duties.
“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.
Training camp began for teams earlier this month, and the league’s first preseason game will be played Thursday night in Canton, Ohio, ahead of Hall of Fame festivities.
The woman who filed the suit, in which she is known under the alias “Jane Doe,” was seeking $50 million for “pain and suffering, psychological and emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation,” per The Athletic.
Although Buzbee announced the suit’s dismissal on social media on July 18, he didn’t reveal the settlement details.
“After protracted and respectful negotiations, I’m pleased to announce that we have reached a mutually agreed upon resolution,” Buzbee said on X. “All matters have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”
Because the suit was “dismissed with prejudice,” Sharpe’s accuser can’t refile the same claim against him in the same Las Vegas court, as reported by The Athletic, which noted that criminal charges weren’t filed against Sharpe.
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, he’s remained active in the podcast world, including with “Nightcap” co-host 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.
