Shannon Sharpe has addressed the $50 million rape and battery lawsuit filed against him by a woman represented by attorney Tony Buzbee.
The Texas-based lawyer has notably represented clients who have accused Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z of sexual assault — allegations which both rappers have vehemently denied.
“To my family, friends, supporters and colleagues: I want to speak to you directly and from the heart. This is a shakedown. I’m gonna be open, transparent and defend myself because this isn’t right,” Sharpe, 56, alleged in a video shared Tuesday via Instagram.
“This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z. Tony Buzbee targets black men,” he further claimed.
The NFL player-turned-broadcaster 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, Sharpe 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.”
The former tight end claimed that the “encounter in question took place during the day at [the woman’s] invitation,” which he now believes was “a deliberate setup coordinated by” the woman, whom he claimed is on OnlyFans.
“[The woman] and Tony Buzbee want $50 million. What they’re getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down,” Sharpe vowed.
“My career is all about real talk and honesty. I know my family and fans know exactly what this is about, and I’m going to be out there telling you whatever I need to say, just like I always do. I love all you guys. Thanks.”
Buzbee did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Sharpe’s video comes hours after Buzbee released an audio clip in which a man alleged to be the Hall of Famer is heard telling the woman 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 alleged to be Sharpe 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.”
Shortly before Buzbee dropped the audio clip, Sharpe’s legal team released numerous explicit text exchanges he allegedly had with the woman from March 2023 to January 2025.
According to Buzbee, the messages “predate the alleged rape.”
According to the woman’s lawsuit, 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.
The woman, who sued Sharpe as “Jane Doe,” claimed they met at a Los Angeles gym in 2023 when she was 20.
She claimed they began a consensual relationship that allegedly turned controlling and abusive.
During one particularly explosive argument, Sharpe allegedly “grabbed her by the neck and told her, ‘If you ever do that again, I will f–king kill you.’”
Sharpe has “categorically” denied all the allegations of “coercion and misconduct — especially the gross lie of ‘rape.’”
This story is developing…
Read the full article here
