ESPN has dismissed Shannon Sharpe, a regular on the network’s popular sports debate show First Take, after keeping him off the air for the past three months, a person familiar with the details confirmed.
Earlier in July, Sharpe settled a lawsuit with an ex-girlfriend who had accused him of rape. When the case was filed, Sharpe said he was “electing to step aside temporarily” from ESPN and planned on returning during the NFL preseason. In addressing the accusations, Sharpe said “the relationship in question was 100% consensual.” In a concurrent statement at the time, ESPN said, “this is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away.”
The Athletic was the first to report Wednesday’s news. ESPN declined to comment.
In the lawsuit filed in Nevada state court on April 20, the Jane Doe plaintiff said she began a “rocky consensual relationship that lasted nearly two years” with the 57-year-old Sharpe. Doe was represented by Tony Buzbee, who has also represented numerous alleged victims of Sean “Diddy” Combs and Deshaun Watson. The plaintiff was seeking damages of $50 million from Sharpe.
Sharpe and the plaintiff settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount on July 18.
Sharpe’s media career began with CBS’ The NFL Today as an analyst. After being let go from CBS, he contributed to ESPN’s First Take when the debate show was still hosted by Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. In 2016, shortly after Bayless left ESPN for FS1, Sharpe joined the former sportswriter to launch Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, which ran for almost seven years. Sharpe left FS1 in June 2023 in an acrimonious split with Bayless. Months later, before the start of the 2023 NFL season, Sharpe returned to ESPN to co-host First Take with Smith.
During his brief TV hiatus between the FS1 and ESPN stints, Sharpe signed a deal with The Volume, the sports podcasting company run by his former FS1 co-worker Colin Cowherd. With The Volume, Sharpe hosts Club Shay Shay through his Shay Shay Media imprint. Sharpe continued to host Club Shay Shay as well as Nightcap with fellow former NFL star Chad Johnson during his break from ESPN.
Before the lawsuit against him was filed, Sharpe was reportedly in line for a lucrative podcast deal, said to be worth as much as $100 million by several outlets.
(This article has been updated in the first paragraph with confirmation of Sharpe’s departure.)
