Professional football Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe is facing a $50 million civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, battery, and emotional abuse. The plaintiff, referred to as “Jane Doe” in court documents, alleges that during their two-year “rocky consensual relationship,” Sharpe raped her twice, recorded sexual encounters without consent, and threatened her.
In an audio clip released to the media by the plaintiff’s attorney, a woman says, “Don’t manipulate me,” to which Sharpe responds, “Oh, Lord have mercy, if you say that word one more time, I’m going to f*****g choke the s**t out of you when I see you.” The woman then sheepishly replies, “I don’t want to be choked.”
Sharpe has vehemently denied the allegations, alleging that the clip was intentionally edited to misrepresent a consensual interaction.
In a recent public statement, he called the lawsuit “a shakedown,” identified the plaintiff as OnlyFans model Gabriella “Gabbi” Zuniga, and claimed that it was “all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee,” Gabbi’s attorney.
“Tony Buzbee targets black men, and I believe he’s going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and play in to every stereotype you could possibly imagine,” Sharpe said.
He went on to allege that the sex tape was actually “10 minutes” and that the encounter took place “at her invitation.” He accused Gabbi of coordinating “a deliberate setup” and Buzbee of editing the video to “manipulate the media,” promising to meet their lawsuit with a defamation countersuit.
Jason Whitlock and “Fearless” guest Shemeka Michelle dive into the scandal.
Jason believes that Sharpe’s public persona is a significant factor in this controversy. He puts two and two together: If the phone call was consensual, as Sharpe insists it was, then the choking threat must have meant he was playing a character, as he often does on television.
“A lot of times, a character takes on a life of its own that’s out of control and will get the real person in a lot of trouble,” says Jason.
“It’s not the first time I’ve heard a woman — a young woman — claim [she was] choked by Shannon Sharpe,” he adds, noting that he used to work with Sharpe at Fox Sports a few years ago.
But that doesn’t mean he’s on team Gabbi necessarily. Tony Buzbee’s lawsuit record does include the names of several high-profile black men, including Jay-Z, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Deshaun Watson.
But Jason doesn’t assume Buzbee is just “out to get black men.” What he’s actually after is “doing the bidding of women,” he says.
Shemeka agrees, acknowledging that it’s true that women engage in these relationships with celebrities for the explicit purpose of getting rich.
“I am going to be one of these people to wait to see what information comes out,” she says, noting that if the full context of the phone call between Gabbi and Sharpe is released, it could very well prove that the exchange was part of a role-playing game.
Even if that’s true, Jason thinks Sharpe should know better.
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” he says.
To hear more of the conversation and see the footage of Sharpe’s public statement, watch the clip above.
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