Shannon Sharpe's Lawyer Says His Accuser Turned Down $10 Million to Settle Her Lawsuit

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The Shannon Sharpe plot thickens. 

By now there can't be a Barstool reader who's not at least marginally aware he's facing a massive lawsuit by a woman accusing him of sexual assault. One that might derail and even more massive media contract he's been reportedly about to sign. If you're not up to speed on it, John Rich has an excellent rundown:

Allegations of this nature are always a nightmare to talk about. It's walking through a rhetorical minefield covered with bear traps, rakes, and dog poop, where ever step could be your last. And the best you can do is protect yourself with all the qualifiers like "allegedly," "accused of," "reportedly" and so on. And and even then, there are people who'll claim to have all the facts who'll accuse you of either A) Falsely accusing the defendant and destroying his life, or B) Victim shaming. 

It's the Kobyashi Maru, the unwinnable scenario. And if at all possible, it's best to just treat the story like an unexploded IED, leave it where it lies, get out of the area to safety, and stay there. But when the accused is someone who's been a public figure at least since he made his first Pro Bowl in 1993, is inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and has been doing five days of TV for decades, you have to go where the news takes you. 

And with this story, it's taken us to a lot discussions between Sharpe and his accuser involving threats of violence and butt stuff. At least according to reporting from the Daily Mail:

Earlier on Tuesday, Sharpe could be heard threatening to choke the girlfriend who is now suing him in newly-released audio provided to DailyMail.com by [the plaintiff's attorney Tony] Buzbee. 

'… I'm gonna fing choke the s out of you when I see you,' he is heard telling the woman, identified only as 'Jane Doe' in her lawsuit.

Sharpe's attorney has since claimed his client was speaking 'in the heat of the moment' and the violent threat was 'not intended.' DailyMail.com also reached out to ESPN, where Sharpe frequently makes guest appearances, but a network spokesperson declined to comment. … [He] claims they show 'a pattern of sexual role-playing' initiated by the accuser - the woman in question accuses him of forcing himself upon her without consent.

According to files released by the defense team, her bombshell message on January 2, 2025, said: 'I cried when u left because I begged you to put a condom on and not put it in my a** and u didn't listen. I don't care what our history is, no means no shannon.'

'Idk [I don't know] how to process this,' she added. 

The evening prior, the accuser - who is believed to be in her 20s - allegedly text Sharpe demanding he made a payment to her, which she appeared to suggest had previously been promised. 

'You've got 5 mins to ft [FaceTime] me back with the money or there's no deal and ur never touching this young white p** again. i'm not playing with u shannon.'

The files claim she then sent a graphic photo before saying: 'or this ahole. i would get to calling if i were you…3 mins left'.

After threatening that his time was running out, she is then quoted as saying: 'times up, no deal. goodbye.'

But Sharpe is said to have text back: 'I'm punishing that ahole 2morrow. Haven't fed you up the a** in months'.

After which, according to the article, they broke up. Mercifully, if I may be so bold. I mean, sure it's possible Sharpe's attorney is telling the truth and all this talk about choking and FaceTime and buttholes is all just role playing. Part of an elaborate mating ritual between two adults. Or Buzzbee could be correct that these prove wrongdoing on Sharpe's part. It's not up to the rest of us to judge what goes on between two people in a dating relationship based solely on some texts without context. That's for a court to decide. But I will say it sounds like these two are better off moving on to find some other partners they're more compatible with. They just don't seem like soulmates who'll be holding hands on the porch swing watching the sun set in their Golden Years together.  Just my two cents.

And that's not the half of it. There's more. Allegedly:

Source - Shannon Sharpe was in the middle of mediation with his accuser when she unexpectedly filed a $50 million civil lawsuit alleging rape, according to his attorney, Lanny J. Davis. The sudden legal move came despite an ongoing negotiation in which Sharpe was prepared to offer at least $10 million to resolve the matter privately.

On Tuesday, Davis spoke out during a virtual press conference on the case and said Sharpe was “engaged in good faith negotiations” with his accuser to “avoid a public spectacle.”

Deadline reports that Davis described the lawsuit as a “shakedown” and reiterated his client’s denial of all allegations. He claimed that the accuser had targeted Sharpe, knowing he was on the brink of signing a multimillion-dollar deal for his popular podcast, Club Shay Shay, reportedly valued at over $100 million.

Here again, it's hard to know what to make of this. If she (allegedly) turned down $10 million, if you're on Sharpe's side on this, you'll accuse her of being a golddigger who's afraid to face him in court, under oath. If you're on the plaintiff's side, you'll applaud her for refusing to be bought. Not even for 10 million bucks. Because she wants justice. Again, I'll give this a good leaving alone and let the legal process play out. That's how you survive dealing with thorny subject matters like this in a time when the world is one big bucket o' crabs, where everyone is looking to pull you down and climb over your back. 

I will say this with full confidence though. This lawsuit, these texts, all that talk about lady parts, and offers of tens of millions of buck being tossed around by lawyers and media companies, is definitive proof of what F. Scott Fitzgerald said a long time ago, but is still relevant today. "The very rich are different from you and me." I can honestly say I never had a breakup like theirs.

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And like Mo'Nique told Sharpe in this resurfaced clip, maybe it's time for him to start dating older women:

Buckle up. I get the feeling this story is going to be with us a while.