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Stephen A. Smith is “rooting” for Shannon Sharpe amid his $50 million rape lawsuit.
“Shannon Sharpe is somebody I work with a couple of days a week,” Smith said about Sharpe on his eponymous podcast on April 22. “Shannon Sharpe is somebody I brought to ESPN … We’ve grown close as friends … I certainly root for him.”
While Smith is rooting for his friend, he also added that he cannot “speak to his innocence or guilt from a knowledgeable place.”
“Even though I got love and respect for Shannon Sharpe, and I’m sincerely hopeful and prayerful that he is completely innocent of the allegations that have been levied against him,” Smith said.
Sharpe has since broken his silence on the lawsuit with a video posted on his Instagram account on Tuesday, April 22. Smith also commented on Sharpe's next steps in the legal ordeal.
“On one hand, going on the offensive to defend himself, I completely understand where Shannon Sharpe is coming from,” Smith said. “On the other hand, when his legal team issued out the press release on X yesterday and they spoke about (her), they mentioned her name, and they revealed some of those explicit text messages. That was uncomfortable. And I don’t know if that’s a strategy that will work.”
“In my perfect world, [Sharpe] moves on and somehow, some way, we find this all to be false,” Smith said. “But it doesn’t seem like that’s the way things are about to go down, considering how Mr. Buzbee is and how emphatic his client is proclaiming that she is right and she is telling the truth. I don’t know where this is going to go. I can’t speak to anything else.”
He also spoke about how he wishes that this could all go away and that they could get back to working together on ESPN's First Take.
“I don’t know what’s happened. I know I got love for the brother,” Smith continued. “I know that I’m wishing that he’s innocent and all of this stuff goes away and he can continue to thrive with me on ESPN and thrive in his own platforms that he worked so diligently over the years to build. But anything else would be entirely irresponsible for me to speak on and I can’t do that. Yes I own this, this is my platform. But I also have a day job and I also understand what lawyers, what HR, and all those other things entail.
“I have no idea what direction ESPN will go in when it comes to this matter,” Smith concluded. “All I do know is it won’t be me making the decision. It will be others upstairs. In the end, all of us have someone to answer to. No matter how maverick we try to be.”
Shannon Sharpe Breaks Silence On $50 Million Rape Lawsuit
Sharpe addressed the rape allegations in an Instagram video following multiple reports.
“I’m gonna be open, transparent and defend myself because this isn’t right. This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z,” thePro Football Hall of Famer said referring to Jane Doe’s lawyer.
“Tony Buzbee targets black men, and I believe he’s going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty, and plays into every stereotype you could possibly imagine. That video should actually be 10 minutes or so,” Sharpe continued.
Sharpe then challenged Buzbee to release an alleged unedited video he has of Sharpe and his client. He previously released an alleged audio recording of Doe and Sharpe's phone call conversation where the former NFL player is heard saying, “I’m going to f–king choke the s–t out of you.”
“Hey Tony, instead of releasing your edit, put the whole video out. I don’t have it, or I would myself. You know what happened and you’re trying to manipulate the media. The encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation, and now that appears to be a deliberate setup.”
