Shannon Sharpe ‘temporarily’ stepping away from ESPN as he battles $50M rape lawsuit

Shannon Sharpe has announced he will be “temporarily” stepping away from his duties at ESPN as he fights the $50 million rape and battery lawsuit against him.

“This is the truth. The relationship in question was 100% consensual,” Sharpe claimed in a statement posted via X Thursday.

“At this juncture, I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me.”

The sports personality, 56, shared that he plans to return to the network for the NFL preseason in early August.

“I sincerely appreciate the overwhelming and ongoing support I have received from my family, fans, friends and colleagues,” he concluded.

ESPN responded to Sharpe’s announcement, telling Page Six in a statement: “This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away.”

“First Take” host Stephen A. Smith addressed the former NFL star’s potential future with ESPN on Smith’s eponymous podcast Tuesday.

“I can tell you I also spoke to co-chairman of Disney, the boss, Jimmy Pitaro, who made it very, very clear [that ESPN] is taking this matter very seriously and we are looking into this very, very closely and once we gather as many facts as we possibly can, we will go from there,” Smith, 57, told listeners.

The bombshell rape lawsuit against Sharpe was filed by a woman referred to as Jane Doe in Nevada on Sunday.

Doe claims she was sexually assaulted by the “Club Shay Shay” podcast host on numerous occasions throughout their “rocky” years-long relationship.

She alleges Sharpe first raped her in October 2024 while she was “crying and sobbing.” The second sexual assault allegedly took place in January when he came over to her house.

The former NFL player-turned-broadcaster has denied all of her allegations.

Earlier this week, Sharpe’s legal team released various explicit text messages allegedly exchanged with his rape accuser between March 2023 and January 2025.

“The evidence paints a clear picture: this was a consensual, adult relationship that included role-playing, sexual language and fantasy scenarios explicitly requested by [Doe],” Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis, claimed in a statement.

Meanwhile, Page Six obtained an audio recording from Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, on which the football legend can purportedly be heard threatening to “choke the s–t” out of her.

Prior to the lawsuit filing, Sharpe allegedly offered Doe $10 million to settle during mediation to resolve the issue.

Davis claimed that Doe “demanded tens of millions of dollars … in return for her not publishing” a sex tape that both sides agree exists.