The Pro Football Hall of Famer stepped away from ESPN after the lawsuit was filed, but he said he planned to return for the 2025 NFL season.
Shannon Sharpe and a woman who accused him of rape have settled a $50 million lawsuit, according to her attorney, Tony Buzbee. No dollar figures were disclosed in the deal that ends the blockbuster suit against the Pro Football Hall of Famer turned sports media star. The settlement increases the likelihood that Sharpe will return, as he previously predicted, to ESPN airwaves in time for the 2025 NFL season. A representative of Sharpe declined to comment on the future plans for the host of the Club Shay Shay and Nightcap podcasts. An ESPN rep declined to comment Friday afternoon.
In the lawsuit filed in Nevada, the woman identified only as “Jane Doe” claimed she met Sharpe at a gym when she was 19 years old. The couple engaged in a “rocky consensual relationship” that eventually devolved into violent sexual assault and rape, according to the suit. But Lanny Davis, the high-powered attorney representing Sharpe, went public with several explicit messages from the woman, which he said proved they were in a consensual relationship.
