Former football star and media personality Shannon Sharpe will not return to his hosting duties at ESPN following a settlement with an ex-girlfriend who accused him of rape, according to multiple reports.
On Wednesday, two weeks after the settlement was reached with Sharpe’s accuser, ESPN officially cut ties with him, The Athletic first reported. ESPN declined to comment to the publication.
The NFL Hall of Famer said in April he was going to “temporarily step aside” from his role as a football analyst after the $50 million lawsuit against him was filed.
The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, said she was 20 when she first met Sharpe at a Los Angeles gym in 2023. After a “rocky consensual relationship” for nearly two years, the woman alleged that it turned “abusive.”
The lawsuit accused Sharpe of forcing the woman into a car, then forcing her to give him oral sex before anally raping her. In another instance in January, the lawsuit said Sharpe sexually assaulted the woman without a condom.
Jane Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, announced the settlement in a July 18 post on X, but did not specify the terms of the agreement.
“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. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”
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Sharpe promoted his podcast, “Club Shay Shay,“ on X on Wednesday, but has so far not commented on the settlement or on the news of his permanent departure from ESPN. A representative for Sharpe did not immediately return a request for comment.
