NFL Corridor of Fame Shannon Sharpe was accused of rape and sexual battery in a bombshell $50 million lawsuit.
In court docket paperwork filed in Nevada on April 20, in line with NBC Sports activities, a girl recognized as “Jane Doe” accused Sharpe of sexually assaulting her on a number of events in addition to making verbal threats. Sharpe strongly denied these allegations, calling the lawsuit a “shakedown” on behalf of Jane Doe’s legal professional, Tony Buzbee. The athlete later outed Jane Doe’s supposed identification in a video assertion.
Sharpe’s attorneys have acknowledged he beforehand tried to settle Jane Doe’s declare with a fee of “a minimum of $10 million,” however she turned down his supply of meditation.
On July 19, a lawyer for “Jane Doe” confirmed in a press release to Us Weekly that Sharpe and his accuser had settled the authorized dispute out of court docket.
“On April 20, 2025, The Buzbee Legislation Agency filed a criticism in Nevada making a number of allegations in opposition to Shannon Sharpe on behalf of our consumer,” Buzbee stated on the time. “Each side acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship. After protracted and respectful negotiations, I’m happy to announce that we’ve reached a mutually agreed upon decision. All issues have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”
Preserve scrolling to be taught every little thing in regards to the lawsuit, the allegations in opposition to Sharpe, his denial and the settlement.
Picture by Julia Beverly/Getty Pictures Julia Beverly/Getty Pictures
The Lawsuit
In a $50 million lawsuit filed in Nevada on April 20, Sharpe was accused of committing assault, sexual assault, battery and sexual battery in opposition to the unidentified girl.
In court docket docs obtained by NBC Sports activities, Jane Doe alleged that she met Sharpe at a Los Angeles fitness center when she was 20 years previous and he was in his mid-50s. In her lawsuit, Jane Doe recalled that her first encounter with Sharpe concerned the athlete providing to “purchase her faux t**s” if she received a weight-loss competitors.
In keeping with Jane Doe, the pair had “a rocky consensual relationship” over two years, although she alleges that Sharpe inflicted intentional emotional misery. Amongst a litany of allegations, Jane Doe accused Sharpe of typically recording their sexual exercise with out her consent after which displaying the footage to others.
The girl moreover accused Sharpe of turning into extra controlling throughout their last months collectively, together with as soon as allegedly telling her, “I’ll f***ing kill you,” when he seen she was attempting to share her location with mates out of concern.
Her court docket paperwork point out that Jane Doe tried to allegedly draw back from Sharpe after he unintentionally live-streamed himself having intercourse with one other girl on Instagram in September 2024.
Sharpe is alleged to have confronted Jane Doe after she began ignoring his calls, resulting in an incident of forcible intercourse with out her consent in October 2024. The girl reported in her court docket submitting that Sharpe allegedly raped her once more in January 2025 with out sporting a condom.
Her 13-page criticism states: “A lady can say ‘sure’ to consensual sexual relations with a person 99 instances, however when she says ‘no’ even as soon as, that ‘no’ means no. Defendant Shannon Sharpe, a person who’s accustomed to getting what he needs, fully fails to know this primary idea.
“After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a girl greater than thirty years youthful than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to simply accept the reply no and raped Plaintiff, regardless of her sobbing and repeated screams of ‘no.’”
Shannon Sharpe’s Response
Sharpe’s legal professional, Lanny J. Davis, informed Us Weekly on Monday, April 21, that Jane Doe’s lawsuit is “stuffed with lies, distortions, and misrepresentations — and it’ll not succeed.” He accused the girl of making an attempt “a blatant and cynical try to shake down Mr. Sharpe for tens of millions of {dollars}.”
By means of his attorneys, Sharpe denied all the lawsuit’s accusations — together with “the gross lie of ‘rape.’”
“He stands firmly by the reality and is ready to battle these false claims vigorously in court docket,” Davis stated in a press release. “He seems ahead to vindication by due course of and a judgment primarily based on the info and the legislation.”
Davis launched textual content messages between Jane Doe and Sharpe which he stated show “this was a consensual relationship that included roleplaying, sexual language and fantasy eventualities.”
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Sharpe subsequently launched his personal video assertion on Tuesday, April 22, wherein he dismissed Jane Doe’s lawsuit as “a shakedown.”
“I’m going to be open, clear and defend myself as a result of this isn’t proper,” he stated through Instagram.
Sharpe blamed Jane Doe’s lawyer, Buzbee, for orchestrating the lawsuit as an assault on “Black males,” after his earlier involvement in fits in opposition to Jay-Z and Diddy.
“I imagine he’s going to launch a 30-second clip of a intercourse tape that tries to make me look responsible and play into each stereotype you possibly can presumably think about,” he stated. “That video ought to really be ten minutes or so. Hey, Tony, as an alternative of releasing your edit, put the entire video out. I don’t have it, or I’d myself. You recognize what occurred and also you’re attempting to control the media.”
In his controversial video assertion, Sharpe outed Jane Doe’s title and accused her of “a deliberate setup.”
“What they’re getting 1752984291 is sued for defamation and attempting to take me down,” Sharpe threatened. “My profession is all about actual discuss and honesty. I do know my household and followers know precisely what that is about, and I’m going to be on the market telling you no matter I have to say, identical to I at all times do. I really like all you guys.”
In keeping with NBC Sports activities, Davis later confirmed in a information convention that Sharpe deliberate to pursue a “counterclaim” in opposition to the girl. The legal professional additionally acknowledged that Sharpe beforehand provided “a minimum of $10 million” to settle the matter earlier than Jane Doe filed her swimsuit, however she turned down the supply.
Buzbee responded through Instagram on Tuesday by insisting that Sharpe had “breached” a confidentiality settlement that he’d required the girl to signal after they briefly entered right into a mediation course of.
“On the one hand Mr. Sharpe and his legal professionals declare that the case filed by Jane Doe is meritless, but then again they now have disclosed that Mr. Sharpe provided Jane Doe $10 million in writing to not file her lawsuit. That may be a true assertion,” Buzbee wrote through Instagram. “Jane Doe was in reality provided $10 million to settle however rejected that provide, selecting as an alternative to proceed with litigation. Sharpe’s staff is now attempting to discredit and dox her. Sharpe and his staff at the moment are, as anticipated, additionally attacking me. We’re not going to be deterred by these ways.”
The girl’s authorized staff subsequently launched audio on Wednesday, April 23, from a purported cellphone name between the accuser and Sharpe, wherein Sharpe allegedly threatened to “choke [her] in public.” Sharpe’s representatives have questioned the authenticity of all recordings launched by Jane Doe’s legal professionals.
Reactions
Sharpe’s ESPN First Take cohost, Stephen A Smith, addressed the “Shannon Sharpe state of affairs” throughout his “Stephen A. Smith Present” podcast on Tuesday, calling the lawsuit “a tragic state of affairs.”
“We’ve grown shut as mates. I actually root for him. I do know he’s been by quite a bit in life, he’s overcome quite a lot of issues, and when he departed from Fox, I used to be more than pleased to deliver him on board right here,” he stated. “So all I can converse to is what I do know primarily based on the reviews, and I can talk about ESPN and Disney.”
Smith stated that he was “hopeful and prayerful that [Sharpe is] fully harmless,” reiterating that his good friend and colleague has denied all allegations.
“On one hand, occurring the offensive to defend himself, I fully perceive the place Shannon Sharpe is coming from,” he stated. “Alternatively, when his authorized staff issued out the press launch on X yesterday, they talked about her title and revealed a few of these express textual content messages That was uncomfortable, and I don’t know if that’s a method that might work.”
Smith went on, “One of many hardest issues on the planet for all of us to do is to only lay low and be quiet and let our authorized staff do it. And we don’t at all times know if that’s the fitting factor to do. I do know, and I can let you know all I spoke to Shannon, not in particulars, however I spoke to him, and he emphatically proclaims his innocence. In keeping with Mr. Buzbee, his consumer emphatically proclaims his guilt. So the place does that go away us? I’d like to let you know I do know the reply to that query, however I don’t know.”
The Settlement
Sharpe and Doe settled the lawsuit on July 18, in line with the unidentified girl’s lawyer. Sharpe was accused of committing assault, sexual assault, battery and sexual battery in opposition to the unidentified girl, who additionally stated the pair had a “rocky consensual relationship.”
“On April 20, 2025, The Buzbee Legislation Agency filed a criticism in Nevada making a number of allegations in opposition to Shannon Sharpe on behalf of our consumer,” a press release to Us learn on the time. “Each side acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship. After protracted and respectful negotiations, I’m happy to announce that we’ve reached a mutually agreed upon decision. All issues have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”
Sharpe has denied all allegations in opposition to him. Particulars of the settlement weren’t launched to the general public on the time.
UPDATE — 4/25/25, 3:30 p.m. ET:: Within the days after the lawsuit was filed, different allegations about Sharpe’s prior conduct have come to gentle.
Accused of Choking Feminine Coworker Throughout Time at FS1
Years earlier than the $50 million sexual assault and rape lawsuit, Sharpe was reportedly accused of misconduct with a coworker throughout his time as a cohost on FS1’s Undisputed.
Sharpe allegedly choked a feminine manufacturing assistant when he labored on the present, in line with a Thursday, April 24, report by Entrance Workplace Sports activities. The outlet claimed that they spoke with “two sources with data of the incident.”
One particular person alleged Sharpe reached an undisclosed settlement with the unnamed accuser. A lawsuit was not filed on the time.
“There was no incident of choking involving Shannon on the FS1 set,” a spokesperson for Sharpe informed Us Weekly on Thursday, April 24. “On one event, he and some colleagues had been concerned in some gentle bodily interplay in a playful context. Fox Sports activities later selected to resolve the matter privately.”
Lady Accused Sharpe of Sexual Assault in Defamation Lawsuit
A lady named Michele Evans, who claims to have been in a relationship with Sharpe for almost a decade, filed a lawsuit in opposition to Sharpe in 2023, claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2010.
“The Defendant proceeded to forcefully subdue me, compelling me to my knees and subsequently partaking in non-consensual oral penetration,” reads the criticism, which was obtained by Individuals. “Regardless of my protests, he endured on this violation.”
Whereas Evans will not be suing Sharpe for sexual assault, she stated the aftermath of the incident was “rife with defamatory commentary, assailing my skilled fame.”
In a press release to Us Weekly on Friday, April 25, attorneys for Sharpe denied the allegations.
“Sadly, Ms. Evans grew to become obsessive about Shannon and determined to fabricate a declare in opposition to him,” the assertion learn. “When she couldn’t discover a lawyer to pursue her outrageous story, she filed a civil criticism on her personal that’s fully devoid of benefit.”
When you or somebody has been sexually assaulted, contact the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
