Shannon Sharpe has settled a $50 million lawsuit brought by a woman who accused him of raping her.
Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the anonymous Jane Doe accuser, announced the two sides had reached an agreement in a statement on Friday, July 18.
“Both sides acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship,” Buzbee wrote on Instagram. “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.”
The attorney added that the lawsuit had been dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
As of publication time, Sharpe had not commented publicly on the settlement. His attorney, Lanny Davis, did not immediately reply to Urban Hollywood 411‘s request for comment.
Related: Shannon Sharpe Taking Time Off ESPN Amid Sexual Assault Scandal
The woman filed the 13-page complaint on April 20, in Clark County, Nevada. She alleged the NFL hall-of-famer and podcaster “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped” her.
The woman said she met Sharpe in 2023 at a gym in Los Angeles when she was 19 years old and he was in his 50s.
“At the time she did not know who he was, only that he was another older man oggling her at the gym,” the lawsuit read.
The suit said the woman lived in Nevada. She began to date Sharpe and at some point, she alleged he became violent.
“In October 2024, Shannon Sharpe violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff two different times in Las Vegas, Nevada, blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop. He did it again in January,” the lawsuit said.
The complaint alleged the sports star threatened to take Doe’s life.
“One time specifically, he was yelling at her while there was a firearm visible in his room,” the complaint said. “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–king kill you.’”
Attorney Lanny Davis issued a statement in April calling Doe’s lawsuit a “blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars.”
As the scandal exploded, Davis held a news conference and revealed Sharpe had been in mediation with Doe and offered to pay her “at least $10 million,” when Buzbee filed the $50 million lawsuit “without warning.”
“It was a big surprise to us a few days ago when this case was filed,” Davis told reporters.
Davis released copies of explicit text messages said to be from exchanges between Sharpe and the woman, in a since-deleted post on Sharpe’s Instagram page. Davis also named the accuser.
One message purportedly from Doe read: “I want you to put a dog collar around my neck and choke me with it while you’re f–king me.”
Another message read: “I know you miss this big juicy ass … $25,000 for each cheek.”
There was also racial role-playing between the woman, who is white and Sharpe, who is Black.
For his part, Sharpe denied the woman’s allegations in a video statement posted to his social media platforms.
“This is a shakedown. I’m going to be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn’t right,” Sharpe said. “This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z. Tony Buzbee targets Black men.”
The former football star added that Buzbee had a copy of a sex tape he might use against the “Club Shay Shay” host. Sharpe called on the attorney to release the entire video instead of just an edited “clip.”
“I believe he’s going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and play into every stereotype you could ever possibly imagine. That video should actually be 10 minutes or so,” Sharpe stated.
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