Former NFL star Shannon Sharpe is being sued for allegedly raping a woman on multiple occasions, according to new court documents.
The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, was filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee for “Jane Doe” on Sunday in Nevada. Doe claims the popular podcaster brutally sexually assaulted her several times at the end of 2024 and the start of 2025.
According to the lawsuit, Doe met Sharpe in 2023 at a gym in Los Angeles when she was only 20 years old and he was in his mid-50s. She stated in the lawsuit that during their first encounter, Sharpe told her he would “buy her fake t*ts” if she won a weight-loss competition with him.
In specific detail, she explained that Sharpe, now 56, proceeded to pursue her relentlessly, calling, texting and “demanding she come to his Beverly Glen mansion.”
The woman stated she and the former Denver Broncos tight end ultimately began a consensual relationship, which she described as “controlling and verbally abusive.”
“He demanded complete control over her time and body, expecting her to be at his house on his schedule, at his command, whenever he called,” Buzbee wrote in Doe’s lawsuit
Doe recalled one incident that terrified her when Sharpe yelled at her while a firearm was visible in the room.
“Plaintiff tried sharing her location with friends from her iPhone – just in case,” the documents state. “But Sharpe saw her doing this. The moment he realized what she was doing, he grabbed her by the neck and told her, ‘If you ever do that again, I will f***ing kill you.'”
Doe is asking for over $50 million in punitive damages.
“It takes a great deal of courage to stand up against those with power, fame and money,” Buzbee said in a statement after filing the suit on Doe’s behalf. “I look forward to pressing this case in court.”
Buzbee is also pursuing multiple lawsuits against music mogul Sean Combs, who is currently in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial on May 5 on an unrelated case.
