ESPN has cut Shannon Sharpe from its roster.
The NFL hall-of-famer won’t return to the sports network after making headlines for a salacious $50 million rape lawsuit, and settling with the accuser earlier this month.
The Athletic first reported news that ESPN “parted ways” with Sharpe on Wednesday afternoon, July 30.
An individual at ESPN with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Urban Hollywood 411 that “Shannon is not returning” to the network.
Sharpe continues to host his popular “Club Shay Shay” podcast on YouTube, although Sports Illustrated reports losing the ESPN deal just cost him a “crazy amount of money.”
The former Denver Broncos tight end was a regular contributor on the First Take morning program, but on April 24 Sharpe announced he was “temporarily” stepping away to focus on the “false” allegations against him.
His statement came four days after attorney Tony Buzbee filed a 13-page civil lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada on behalf of an anonymous Jane Doe accuser.
The complaint said the woman met Sharpe in 2023 when she was 19 years old and he was in his 50s. The two began dating and had a “rocky consensual relationship” the lawsuit said. The woman alleged the Super Bowl champion became abusive when she confronted him for “cheating” with other women.
The lawsuit said Sharpe “forcibly anally raped” the woman at her apartment on Oct. 6, 2024, after she broke things off with him. “He told her, in the moment as she was crying, that the experience was so good it was giving him chills,” the lawsuit said.
The complaint alleged Sharpe raped Doe again on Jan. 2, 2025, as she “screamed and sobbed.”
Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny Davis, did several interviews as the story became front-page sports and entertainment news. Davis said the woman was an OnlyFans model and the pair’s relationship was transactional.
The attorney posted transcripts of explicit text messages between Sharpe and Doe on the superstar athlete’s Instagram page, and released the woman’s name. The post has since been deleted, as we recently reported.
The woman is white and Sharpe is Black. Some of the texts had racial undertones, with the attorney saying the two were “involved in role-playing.” In one message, the woman purportedly told Sharpe she wanted him to put a “big Black baby” inside of her.
Another message read, “I know u miss this big juicy a–… $25k for each cheek.”
On April 22, Sharpe released a video statement on the X platform saying he had done nothing wrong.
“This is a shakedown. I’m going to be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn’t right,” he stated. “This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z. Tony Buzbee targets Black men.”
That same day his attorney held a virtual news conference with reporters and dropped a bombshell. Davis revealed Sharpe was in mediation with Doe and had offered to pay her “at least $10 million” when Buzbee filed her $50 million lawsuit “without warning,” both the New York Post and NBC Sports reported.
As the saga unfolded, TMZ Sports released an audio recording of a man, the outlet said was Sharpe, telling the woman: “I’m gonna f–king choke the s–t out of you.” The outlet said the recording came from Buzbee.
Sharpe admitted in his video statement there was also a lengthy sex tape of the two.
The story took another turn on July 18, when Buzbee released a statement announcing the case had been settled.
“Both sides acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship,” Buzbee said. “After protracted and respectful negotiations, I’m pleased to announce that we have reached a mutually agreed upon resolution. All matters have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed.”
Lanny Davis did not respond to Urban Hollywood 411‘s request for comment on the settlement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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