There’s no skipping for Shannon Sharpe from the ugly rape lawsuit.
The former NFL legend and ESPN’s current sensational commentator is under major fire for allegedly raping a 20-year-old woman.
Sharpe is fighting on all fronts. First, the victim, identified as Jane Doe, filed a $50 million civil lawsuit against the Hall of Famer. Then their private texts surfaced on the internet. And now, a call recording and etc.
While there’s not much he can do in the situation, Sharpe is keeping his head cool.
The 56-year-old sports analyst recently issued his side of the story and shared a video as his official stance on the matter.However, he skipped his regular ESPN show on Wednesday, First Take, to sort things out at his level. Recently, cameras caught Sharpe leaving his Atlanta residence for a podcast event in Green Bay. Accompanying him was his loyal assistant, Shelly Davis.
Davis has been assisting the NFL great for a little over two decades and has been there through his many major life events. And now, as it stands as one of the biggest allegations in his life, Shannon Sharpe has his loyal woman with him.
ESPN Is Getting Heat For Letting Shannon Sharpe Continue His Show
While it’s still early to judge who’s at fault and who’s not, Shannon Sharpe’s broadcaster, ESPN, is getting some heat.
The network’s handling of Sharpe’s recent legal troubles has certainly stirred up quite the conversation. When the allegations of sexual assault against him first came to light, ESPN decided to stick with its programming. They let him appear on shows as scheduled.
That meant Sharpe was on First Take just days after the allegations surfaced. However, shortly after his appearance, an audio recording was released where he allegedly threatened to choke his accuser.
Later on, Sharpe’s legal team shared some text messages about their relationship, but those didn’t seem to help his case. Then came the report that Sharpe might settle with his accuser for around $10 million, which only added to his social media scrutiny.
Critics wasted no time in voicing their concerns. Ben Axelrod from Awful Announcing couldn’t believe that ESPN went ahead and put Sharpe on air during such a serious time.
He pointed out that taking him off the air could have spared the network from the poor optics of him being on screen while the audio leak and settlement news broke. He also noted that ESPN hasn’t issued any statements regarding the controversy, which raised eyebrows about their public relations approach.
Mike Florio from ProFootballTalk also weighed in, sharing his confusion over why ESPN made the decision to let Sharpe continue with his appearances.
There’s still time for the final verdict, and Unc Shay is getting some serious attention.
