Shannon Sharpe allegedly offered his rape accuser $10 million to settle before she filed her $50 million lawsuit.
Attorneys for both sides agree that Sharpe and the woman, who filed her suit as Jane Doe, entered into mediation to try to resolve the issue.
Lanny Davis, who currently represents Sharpe, claimed to Front Office Sports on Tuesday that Doe “demanded tens of millions of dollars … in return for her not publishing” a sex tape that both sides agree exists.
However, Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, told Page Six that Sharpe offered his client $10 million, but she “rejected that offer to settle and decided to file suit” on Sunday.
Buzbee claimed, “Back in early February, our office contacted Mr. Sharpe on behalf of Jane Doe and broached the subject of a meeting. Multiple conversations took place. Ultimately, a mediation occurred.”
According to Buzbee, Sharpe, 56, “was represented by different lawyers in that mediation. That mediation process went on for more than six weeks, ultimately leading to Mr. Sharpe making an incredibly significant offer to settle.”
However, Doe allegedly “refused the hefty sum offered by Sharpe and instead filed this case.”
Davis has not yet responded to Page Six’s request for comment. Further details from mediation conversations, if any, are unknown.
In her lawsuit, Doe alleged that Sharpe “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped” her two different times in Las Vegas on Oct. 6, 2024, “blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop.” He allegedly “did it again” on Jan. 2.
In the court filing, Doe claimed she met the NFL player-turned-broadcaster at a Los Angeles gym in 2023 when she was 20. She claimed they began a consensual relationship that allegedly turned controlling and abusive.
After Sharpe “categorically” denied all of her allegations of “coercion and misconduct, especially the gross lie of ‘rape,’” his legal team released numerous explicit text exchanges he allegedly had with Doe from March 2023 to January 2025.
Buzbee argued that “every text that Mr. Sharpe’s counsel released … purportedly from Jane Doe are dated PRIOR to the alleged brutal assault set forth in Jane Doe’s case.”
He then released an audio clip in which a man he alleged to be Sharpe is heard telling a woman he alleged to be Doe that he “will f–king choke the s–t out of” her the next time he sees her.
When the woman says she does not want to be choked, the man responds, “Yes, you do. I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.”
Buzbee argued that “the contents of this clip are certainly not sexual. They are not playful. They are instead disturbing, aggressive and dangerous. This audio paints a very clear picture of how Sharpe treated Jane Doe, leading her to escape from him by leaving Nevada and blocking all contact with him.”
The former tight end responded by posting an Instagram video in which he named Doe and outed her as an alleged OnlyFans creator.
He also called the lawsuit a “shakedown” and accused Buzbee of targeting black men.
Sharpe went on to say that he believes Buzbee will be releasing a “30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make [him] look guilty and play into every stereotype [one] could possibly imagine.”
According to Sharpe, the alleged video “should actually be 10 minutes or so.”
Speaking directly to Buzbee, the Hall of Famer urged, “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.”
He also claimed that the “encounter in question took place during the day at [Doe’s] invitation,” which he now believes was “a deliberate setup coordinated by” her.
Buzbee called the claim “demonstrably false” and “desperate.”
“Although Jane Doe never referenced any video or multiple audios that she possesses in the lawsuit that she filed, now that Mr. Sharpe’s lawyer has decided to broach that subject, we will address it,” he said, adding that “an incredibly damning video does indeed exist.”
According to Buzbee, “the contents of that video speak volumes about Mr. Sharpe and his behavior. That video, which will be played to the jury, is extremely problematic for Mr. Sharpe.”
Buzbee believes the “Club Shay Shay” podcast host “disclosed the existence of this video in an effort to try and get ahead of it,” insisting that “that effort will fall flat.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
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