Shannon Sharpe dared his accuser’s legal team to release a full sex tape as he battles a $50 million lawsuit that could derail his broadcasting career and public image.
In a bold Instagram video posted on Tuesday (April 22), the former NFL star and current ESPN personality dismissed the lawsuit as a “shakedown” and accused attorney Tony Buzbee of “targeting Black men.”
Shannon Sharpe also challenged Buzbee to release what he claims is a 10-minute video that would clear his name, saying the accuser’s team is only sharing “a 30-second edited clip.”
That audio clip, released by Buzbee, features Sharpe allegedly threatening to “f###### choke the s### out of you” during a phone call with the woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe.
In the recording, she responds, “I don’t want to be choked,” to which Sharpe replies, “Yes, you do. I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.”
Buzbee, representing Doe, says the audio is not sexual or consensual, calling it “disturbing, aggressive, and dangerous.”
“Although we will save the video discussed by Sharpe’s lawyers for the courtroom, I would suggest that Mr. Sharpe’s new lawyer take a moment to listen to his client at a different time on audio and ask his client for the real story—the truth,” Tony Buzbee said.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, accuses Sharpe of sexual assault, battery and emotional abuse during what she describes as a “rocky consensual relationship” from 2023 to early 2025.
Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny Davis, insists the relationship was consensual and claims the audio reflects a “consensual sexual dynamic.” Davis released explicit text messages from 2023 in which the accuser allegedly asked Sharpe to “put a dog collar around my neck and choke me.”
Davis also revealed that Shannon Sharpe offered a settlement of “at least $10 million” before the lawsuit was filed. The accuser rejected the offer.
“Prior to engaging in the mediation process, Mr. Sharpe’s counsel insisted on Jane Doe signing a confidentiality agreement. Mr. Sharpe’s attorney has now breached that agreement, while at the same time deliberately revealing Jane Doe’s name, phone number, and private messages that again predate the alleged rape,” Tony Buzbee said. “That was a grievous error on Sharpe’s part, because now all the things discussed and revealed in that mediative process will at some point be revealed.”
So far, Sharpe has not stepped away from his media duties. He appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” the same day the lawsuit and audio surfaced.
In his video response, he denied all allegations and said the encounter in question happened “during the day, at her invitation.”
The lawsuit claims Sharpe raped the woman twice—once in October 2024 and again in January 2025—and includes allegations of death threats, non-consensual recordings and coercive control.
Buzbee says the abuse escalated over time and led the woman to flee Nevada and cut off contact with Sharpe.
Buzbee also accused Sharpe’s legal team of violating a confidentiality agreement by releasing private messages and revealing Doe’s identity. He warned that this breach would allow previously undisclosed information from mediation to become public.
“This is not the first time Mr. Sharpe has faced allegations of mistreating a woman,” Buzbee said, referencing a prior lawsuit in New York. “Instead of owning up to his actions, Sharpe has chosen to mislead his lawyers and the public, and double down — this time by doxing Jane Doe and attempting to humiliate into silence this woman who is 30 years his junior.”
Sharpe has not responded to Buzbee’s latest statement. The case is expected to move forward in court later this year.
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