There are growing doubts that Shannon Sharpe will return to ESPN when his career threatens to hit the rocks for the $ 50 million rape trial with which he is confronted.
Sharpe, 56, was accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend who, according to the trial, was 19 years old when she met the analyst and triple winner of the Super Bowl.
Sharpe denies allegations and earlier this week, his lawyer said he had tried to settle with the woman for around $ 10 million.
Clips have since been released from Sharpe threatening to “suffocate the woman’s S ***”, while Sharpe’s lawyer published a mine of texts between the two with a showing that she said “no means”.
Now, according to an Outkick report, there is a question to ESPN to find out if Sharpe will be back next week during the first catch, the program on which he appears alongside Stephen A. Smith.
The report indicates that an ESPN source pulled parales with Sharpe to Michael Irvin. Irvin has not been on ESPN since he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2023.
There would be doubts about Shannon Sharpe’s ESPN future in the midst of the rape of $ 50 million
It was as usual for Sharpe this week in the show – he did not speak about his trial, and he did not appear the Wednesday edition which, according to the network, was a scheduled day.
Remarkably, Smith seemed to be subtly distant from Sharpe when he discussed the situation on his own YouTube channel earlier this week.
“On the one hand, by going to the offensive to defend itself, I understand perfectly where Shannon Sharpe comes from,” said Smith.
“ On the other hand, when his legal team published the press release on X, they mentioned his name and revealed some of these explicit text messages, which was uncomfortable, and I do not know if it is a strategy that would work.
“I know, and I can tell you everything I talked about in Shannon, not in detail, but I told him, and he proclaims his innocence forcefully.”
Sharpe is expected to be in Green Bay on Thursday for the draft of the NFL.
On Wednesday evening, he declared on Instagram that he would interview the legends and the choices of the NFL in the first round.
More to follow
