NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe has been accused of rape in a $50 million civil lawsuit by a woman using the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” alleging a litany of offenses including sexual battery and assault.
The 13-page suit was filed Sunday in a Nevada court and obtained by the New York Post. It alleges that the ESPN analyst committed assault, sexual assault, battery, sexual battery, and intentionally inflicted emotional distress, all during a “rocky consensual relationship.” The relationship was with a woman more than 30 years younger and lasted for two years.
“Mr. Sharpe categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct – especially the gross lie of “’rape’ — and will not submit to what he sees as an egregious attempt at blackmail,” Lanny J. Davis, who is representing Sharpe, said in the statement, according to the Post. “He stands firmly by the truth and is prepared to fight these false claims vigorously in court. He looks forward to vindication through due process and a judgment based on the facts and the law.”
In the suit, the victim claims that Sharpe sexually assaulted her multiple times at the end of last year and at the start of this year. It also alleges that Sharpe threatened to kill the woman, and displayed “manipulating and controlling” behavior, and that he “repeatedly” threatened “to brutally choke and violently slap her.”
“One time specifically, he was yelling at her while there was a firearm visible in his room,” the lawsuit states, according to the Post. “Terrified for her safety, Plaintiff tried sharing her location with friends from her iPhone — just in case. 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****** kill you.’”
The legal filing also states that Sharpe secretly recorded the two having sex without the woman’s knowledge and subsequently shared the footage with friends without her being aware or giving her permission.
Former NFL player and ESPN commentator Shannon Sharpe has been accused of sexual battery and assault in a civil lawsuit asking for $50 million (Getty Images)
The complaint states that the plaintiff isn’t the woman that Sharpe accidentally shared audio of on an Instagram livestream while having sex in September last year. The plaintiff said she began to end the relationship after that incident because he “cheated” when she was under the impression that they were in an exclusive relationship.
Sharpe attempted to get her back after the incident.
“A woman can say ‘yes’ to consensual sexual relations with a man ninety-nine times, but when she says ‘no’ even once, that ‘no’ means no,” the legal filing states.
“Defendant Shannon Sharpe, a man who is accustomed to getting what he wants, completely fails to understand this basic concept,” it adds. “After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of ‘no.’”
According to the complaint, the plaintiff initially met Sharpe at a gym in Los Angeles in early 2023. During their first conversation, she was 20 years old. Sharpe proposed buying her “fake [breasts]” if she won a fitness challenge he devised.
The civil lawsuit says that the plaintiff would visit Sharpe at his mansion and that he would control her emotionally, physically and psychologically.
“This cycle of control, fear, and submission became routine,” the legal filing claims. “Yelling at her, controlling her, forcibly grabbing her by the neck when he got upset, saying he was going to ‘kill her,’ and asserting dominance became the norm.”
The lawsuit came just a day before Front Office Sports reported that Sharpe was set to sign a deal for more than $100 million for his Club Shay Shay podcast following the expiration of his contract with The Volume podcast network.
The Independent has contacted ESPN for comment.
