Shannon Sharpe said Thursday he is stepping away from his hosting duties at ESPN after a 22-year-old woman filed a $50 million lawsuit against him for rape.
The woman, identified as “Jane Doe” in court paperwork, accused the former NFL star of multiple rapes and physical abuse. Shannon strenuously denied the allegations and threatened to file a countersuit against Doe.
Shannon’s attorney, Lanny Davis explained that Doe turned down a $10 million offer to settle the lawsuit.
Shannon, 56, had a good reason to try and settle out of court.
In a previous incident, Front Office Sports reported that Shannon was accused of choking a female production assistant while he worked at FS1 in 2023.
Shannon’s attorney at the time said that the choking incident never happened.
“There was no incident of choking involving Shannon on the FS1 set. On one occasion, he and a few colleagues were involved in some light physical interaction in a playful context. Fox Sports later chose to resolve the matter privately,” his rep said.
Shannon and Fox Sports quietly settled with the FS1 employee for “several hundred thousand dollars.”
But that wasn’t the end of the story. There was another allegation made by an ex-girlfriend against Shannon in 2023 that FOX could not ignore.
The NFL Hall of Famer was also let go from his gig at CBS Sports after similar accusations.
Shannon is currently covering the 2025 NFL Draft for his “Nightcap” podcast co-hosted by Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
