The attorney representing Shannon Sharpe’s sexual assault accuser has announced a settlement in the lawsuit. Details of the agreement have not been revealed publicly, but the Plaintiff, identified as Sharpe’s ex-girlfriend, has retracted her rape accusation against the former Denver Broncos tight end.
‘After protracted and respectful negotiations, I’m pleased to announce that we have reached a mutually agreed upon resolution,’ read a post by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee. ‘All matters have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.’
A spokesperson for Sharpe’s legal team declined comment to Daily Mail, explaining that Buzbee’s statement would be the final word on the matter.
Filed in Nevada in April, the $50 million lawsuit accused sports media personality of raping his now-ex girlfriend in 2024 and 2025 while the two were in a relationship.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer was first accused of raping the Plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, in October of 2024. He allegedly raped her again in January after arriving at her home with promises of Christmasand birthday gifts, according to Doe’s original complaint.
Sharpe denied the accusations after the lawsuit was filed, but has otherwise refrained from comment.
Now, according to Buzbee’s statement, both Doe and Sharpe ‘acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship.’
Sharpe was sued by an ex-girlfriend for $50 million, but the two sides have now settled
Tony Buzbee (pictured), the attorney representing Shannon Sharpe’s sexual assault accuser, has announced a settlement in the lawsuit. Details of the agreement have not been revealed
Although he continued with his two podcasts, Sharpe stepped away from his part-time duties with ESPN in April.
‘At this juncture I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties,’ Sharpe said in a statement. ‘I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason.’
As it turned out, Sharpe settled just as teams across the NFL are opening training camps this week and next.
Daily Mail has reached out to ESPN for comment.
Doe and Sharpe met in 2023 when she was 20 and he was in his mid-50s, according to April lawsuit obtained by Daily Mail. She claimed Sharpe told her he would ‘buy her fake t**s’ if she won a weight-loss competition with him. From there, she claimed, Sharpe pursued her vigorously, calling, texting and ‘demanding she come to his Beverly Glen mansion.’
Curiously, Sharpe demanded she sign a non-disclosure agreement when their relationship began, only to drop that request when she repeatedly refused, according to the filing.
‘… Sharpe made another demand—she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, an “NDA,”‘ read the complaint. ‘He refused to explain why and would not let her see a copy of the proposed agreement. He simply insisted she sign one. Plaintiff refused. After multiple attempts, when he realized she would not cooperate, he finally dropped the issue.’
Doe described their relationship in the April complaint as consensual but said he ‘demanded complete control over her time and body.’ Often he was ‘expecting her to be at his house on his schedule, at his command, whenever he called,’ according to the filing.
She became particularly fearful of Sharpe during an argument in which there was a handgun visible in the room.
‘Plaintiff tried sharing her location with friends from her iPhone — just in case,’ the filing stated. ‘But Sharpe saw her doing this. The moment he realized what she was doing, he grabbed her by the neck and told her, “If you ever do that again, I will f***ing kill you.”‘
After filing the lawsuit, Buzbee produced audio of Sharpe seemingly threatening the Plaintiff.
‘… I’m gonna f***ing choke the s*** out of you when I see you,’ the 56-year-old Sharpe is heard telling the woman.
Sharpe’s attorney at the time claimed his client was speaking ‘in the heat of the moment’ and the violent threat was ‘not intended.’
Furthermore, Buzbee alleged that Sharpe offered Doe a ‘hefty sum’ to settle the case in February, only for the plaintiff to decline the payoff.
‘A little history,’ Buzbee wrote in his April statement. ‘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,’ the statement continued. ‘Ultimately a mediation occurred. Mr. Sharpe 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. Ultimately Jane Doe refused the hefty sum offered by Sharpe and instead filed this case last night.’
The recording provided to Daily Mail by Buzbee’s office contained a conversation between Sharpe and his accuser. Lanny J. Davis, Sharpe’s attorney at the time, confirmed the male voice on the tape belonged to his client.
‘You want to be a d*** to me now, so…,’ Sharpe is heard saying.
A woman’s voice quickly chimed in: ‘I don’t want to be… Don’t manipulate me!’
Sharpe also responded quickly.
‘If you say that word one more time, I’m gonna f***ing choke the s*** out of you when I see you,’ he said.
After a long pause, Sharpe is heard saying: ‘Thank you.’
An even longer pause then followed before the woman said: ‘I don’t want to be choked.’
Sharpe responded: ‘Yes you do. I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.’
Shannon Sharpe and Big Boi attend ESPN First Take at Clark Atlanta University on November 8
Initially, after the lawsuit was filed in April, Sharpe’s legal team accused the plaintiff of secretly recording a ‘consensual’ sexual encounter with the intention of editing and misrepresenting it for use in her case against the podcaster and ESPN personality.
‘In her effort to extract a large financial settlement, [Jane Doe] presented Mr. Sharpe with a secretly recorded video of a consensual sexual encounter,’ the statement read.
‘We believe the video has been heavily edited and taken entirely out of context, crafted to falsely portray a consensual act as non-consensual. [Jane Doe] has refused to provide a copy of the full, unedited version of the recording to Mr. Sharpe’s legal team.’
Buzbee pushed back against that claim.
‘The statement from Sharpe’s newest lawyer falsely accuses Ms. Jane Doe of editing a video — a claim that is not only demonstrably false, but also desperate,’ Buzbee wrote in April. ‘The lawyer also suggests Ms. Doe refused to make the video available to Mr. Sharpe. Again, this assertion is easily proven untrue.
‘Here’s what is true,’ Buzbee continued. ‘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.’
That aforementioned ‘incredibly damning’ video ‘will be played to the jury,’ Buzbee wrote at the time.
Now, with a settlement in hand, that no longer appears to be a possibility.
A popular podcast host and ESPN personality, Sharpe was rumored to be in line for a massive new deal before he was accused of raping his ex-girlfriend in April.
Front Office Sports reported that Sharpe received multiple offers as his current media deal with Colin Cowherd’s platform, The Volume, is set to expire. Furthermore, sources told FSO Sharpe’s next deal is expected to exceed $100 million, which happens to be the reported amount Stephen A. Smith got in his recent contract negotiations with ESPN.
That might come as a surprise, but Sharpe does have a massive audience.
A recent interview with comedian Katt Williamson hit nearly 90 million views and Club Shay Shay currently boasts around 4 million subscribers, making it among the most popular podcasts in sports and entertainment.
Regardless of whether Sharpe’s next deal surpasses $100 million in total value, it will assuredly exceed the $22 million he made over 14 NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens.
The brother of former Green Bay Packers receiver Sterling Sharpe, Shannon played at little-known Savannah State before being taken by the Denver Broncos as an afterthought in the seventh round of the 1990 NFL Draft.
But instead of being a backup or role player, Sharpe soon established himself as one of the most productive tight ends in football despite not possessing elite size at just 6-foot-2, 228-pounds.
He would go on to win two Super Bowls with the Broncos and another with the Baltimore Ravens before turning to Denver to finish his career in 2003.