ESPN Severs Ties with NFL Legend After $50 Million Lawsuit Settlement: Report
First the lawsuit went away. Then so did Shannon Sharpe.
Less than two weeks after Sharpe settled a $50 million lawsuit accusing him of rape, ESPN has decided that it will not bring back the former NFL tight end, according to The Athletic, a division of The New York Times. The report relied on sources that were not named.
The suit was filed in April. At that time, Sharpe stopped appearing on ESPN, but insisted he would be back as the NFL training camps opened.
Sharpe still has the podcasts “Club Shay Shay” and “Nightcap.” The agreement by The Volume to distribute them wraps up at the end of August, The Athletic reported.
The report said that the April filing of the lawsuit came as Sharpe was nearing a $100 million podcast deal.
NEWS: ESPN has cut ties with Shannon Sharpe less than two weeks after he settled a lawsuit in which his ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, sources tell @AndrewMarchand.
Sharpe has not been on the network since late April. ESPN declined to comment.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 30, 2025
“I’m bigger now than at any point in my career. I’m 10 times what I was,” Sharpe told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. “I won Super Bowls. I’m in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But I’ve never been as big as I am right now.”
The lawsuit against Sharpe claimed the NFL Hall of Famer “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff” in October of last year, and again in January of this year in Las Vegas, “blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop,” according to CNN.
“After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of ‘no,’” the civil suit said.
Sharpe has said sex between him and the woman who sued him was consensual.
The end of the lawsuit was announced on July 18. No terms were disclosed.
“On April 20, 2025, The Buzbee Law Firm filed a complaint in Nevada making several allegations against Shannon Sharpe on behalf of our client. Both sides acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship,” attorney Tony Buzbee posted on X.
“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,” he wrote.
Lanny Davis, who represented Sharpe when the lawsuit was filed, said in April that Sharpe had offered the woman $10 million as a settlement, but that was rejected.
Davis said the plaintiff was a willing participant, according to the New York Post.
“The evidence paints a clear picture: this was a consensual, adult relationship that included role-playing, sexual language, and fantasy scenarios,” Davis said.
The lawsuit said the woman met Sharpe at a gym in 2023 when she was 20, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sharpe is 57.
Sharpe was on three Super Bowl-winning teams during 14 years in the NFL and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Las Vegas police said in April that they would not investigate Sharpe in connection with any sexual misconduct claims contained in the lawsuit.
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