Shannon Sharpe Leaving ESPN Duties Temporarily Amid Ongoing Lawsuit
Written by Tariq on April 25, 2025
Shannon Sharpe has said he will temporarily take time away from his role on ESPN after being sued for assault, sexual assault, battery and sexual battery. He denies the allegations in the lawsuit filed Sunday by an anonymous woman and her attorneys. Sharpe plays a prominent part on ESPN’s morning sports debate show “First Take.” “I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason,” Sharpe said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer concluded by thanking his “family, fans, friends and colleagues” for their support. Following Sharpe’s announcement, ESPN said in a statement, “This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away.” Sharpe’s legal representatives previously told CNN the lawsuit was an attempt to “shake down” the popular podcaster for millions of dollars and said he “categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct.” In the suit filed in a Las Vegas district court, “Jane Doe” accuses the popular host of the “Club Shay Shay” podcast 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 alleges Sharpe, 56, “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff,” in October 2024 and again in January of this year in Las Vegas, Nevada, “blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop.”
Source: CNN
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