Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe quickly resorted to the playbook of blaming hackers for a sex act being transmitted live on his Instagram Wednesday.
But he confessed later in the day that he accidentally activated Instagram Live while he was engaging in intimate “activity.” The clip is basically audio because the camera is trained mostly on the ceiling and floor while a woman can be heard moaning.
“Obviously, I’m embarrassed,” the ESPN personality said on his “Nightcap” podcast, which can be seen below. “I’m very disappointed in myself. … I let a lot of people down.”
Sharpe blamed a lack of technical awareness for the leak.
“I came in, I threw my phone on the bed, engaged in an activity,” he said. “I did not know IG Live. I’ve never been on IG Live, I’ve never turned IG Live on, so I don’t know how it works.”
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Sharpe discovered the mishap when his marketing representative urgently informed him that he had just streamed the interlude live for his millions of followers to hear.
“My heart sank,” Sharpe said. “It dropped. … I called my agent, I called the agency, I called ESPN and I [thought] I just got to tell them the truth. My phone wasn’t hacked, it wasn’t a prank. It was me being a healthy, active male.”
The three-time Super Bowl winner signed a contract earlier this year to expand his role on ESPN’s “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith and host Molly Qerim.
Fast forward to 8:30 for Sharpe’s explanation:
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