Shannon Sharpe is hitting back at the sexual assault lawsuit, calling B.S. on the allegations and sharing graphic messages he claims were sent by his accuser to “back his side of the story.”
The Hall of Fame tight end, through his lawyer Lanny J. Davis, denied the rape allegations brought against him on Monday afternoon (April 21), citing what he calls gross misconduct and an attempted blackmail scheme.
“Mr. Sharpe categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct — especially the gross lie of ‘rape’ — and will not submit to what he sees as an egregious attempt at blackmail,” Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis, said in a statement that the Club Shay Shay host shared on his X account.
“He stands firmly by the truth and is prepared to fight these false claims vigorously in court.”
Sharpe, 56, is being sued for $50 million by a woman under the pseudonym “Jane Doe” who accused the former NFL player of sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions in late 2024 and early 2025.
The suit, filed in a Nevada state court, alleges that Sharpe threatened to kill Doe, manipulated and controlled her, and “repeatedly threatened to brutally choke her and violently slap her.”
But Sharpe “categorically denies” the allegations and intends to fight tooth and nail, his lawyer stated, pointing to a trove of text messages allegedly proving his client did nothing wrong.
“The evidence paints a clear picture: this was a consensual, adult relationship that included role-playing, sexual language, and fantasy scenarios” requested by Jane Doe, Davis said.
He added that Sharpe and the accuser — whom they allegedly identified as a woman named “Gabrielle Zuniga” — had consensual sex until January 2, 2025, the day after she reportedly asked for “$25,000 per cheek” in a message.
“I know u miss this big juicy ass…$25k for each cheek,” she allegedly wrote, per the 44 pages of texts the ESPN personality’s legal team released.
Before that text, Sharpe wished her a happy new year and said that if she sent him $50,000, she could come over to his house, another alleged message says, according to The Post.
Other explicit texts released by his legal team include a message Zuniga allegedly sent on March 5, 2023, in which she texted Sharpe a photo of a woman tied up in a compromising position, writing, “Tie me up like this & f–k me.”
Sharpe reportedly responded, “IF* I knew how to, I would.”
Zuniga then allegedly replied, “It’s ok I have handcuffs … we can stick to those for now.”
Then on October 9, “I want you to put a dog collar around my neck and choke me with it while ur f–king me”, according to the alleged messages obtained by the New York Post.
The two also talked about her desire to have a kid with him, including allegedly writing, “only if you put that baby gravy in me, then u can do whatever u want to me” and “i literally ate so much food i look like I’m pregnant with ur big black baby.”
“I’ve always wanted a black baby,” she also allegedly wrote.
According to the lawsuit, tensions between Sharpe and Zuniga reportedly began after the podcaster was allegedly caught having sex on Instagram Live in September 2024.
In a series of alleged messages, dated December 26, 2024, the woman demanded a “formal apology” and repeatedly pressed the issue before Sharpe allegedly responded, “I’ve already apologized. Stop playing childish [games].”
“These messages are just a sampling of a broader pattern of graphic, sexual communications initiated by the plaintiff,” Davis, Sharpe’s lawyer, said.
Sharpe and the plaintiff reportedly met in 2023 at a Los Angeles gym when the woman was just 20 years old, the civil lawsuit claims.
Neither party has responded to requests for comments.
