Shannon Sharpe Exits ESPN Amid Rape Allegations

Shannon Sharpe is stepping away from ESPN.

The 56-year-old First Take commentator is leaving the network following an accusation of rape in a $50 million civil lawsuit filed over the weekend.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations made by a Jane Doe that he sexually assaulted her in late 2024 and early 2025.

“My statement is found here and this is the truth. The relationship in question was 100% consensual,” he wrote in a statement.

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“At this juncture I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason,” he continued.

ESPN said in a statement to the New York Post: “This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away.”

The accuser’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, released an audio recording this week in which Shannon can allegedly be heard telling the woman: “I might choke you in public.”

In a previous recording released earlier in the week, he can allegedly be heard telling the accuser: “if you say that word one more time, I’m going to f–king choke the s–t out of you when I see you.”

His attorney, Lanny J. Davis, released a series of explicit text messages he says were sent from the accuser, illustrating that the two had a consensual relationship that involved “role-playing” and “fantasy.”

One alleged text reads: “I want you to put a dog collar around my neck and choke me with it while you’re f–king me.”

The two were reportedly close to a settlement worth “at least $10 million” before she backed out, and the lawyer said this lawsuit is a “shakedown.”

First Take‘s Stephen A. Smith also addressed the allegations on his podcast.

“I recruited Shannon… but I’m not the boss,” he said. “Those are other folks. There are layers to this and there are certain layers that even I am not on. I can tell you I also spoke to co-chairman of Disney, the boss, Jimmy Pitaro, who made it very, very clear that [ESPN is] taking this matter very seriously and we are looking into this very, very closely and once we gather as many facts as we possibly can, we will go from there. And that is all he said. And I can mention his name because I received his permission to say that. I don’t know what that means.”