Former NFL star and current media personality Shannon Sharpe is currently facing a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, battery and engaging in intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Sharpe, who hosts the uberly popular Club Shay Shay podcast, and also fulfills drop-in appearances on ESPN’s First Take, was sued on Sunday in a lawsuit that was filed in Nevada. The plaintiff, who in the lawsuit was identified in the case under the alias “Jane Doe,” claims that Sharpe sexually assaulted her, and she’s seeking $50 million in damages. And all of this comes on the heels of rumors surrounding a potential $100 million contract coming Sharpe’s way.
The lawsuit suggested, among other things, that Shannon Sharpe got more and more aggressive as the two-year relationship went on:
“Sharpe flew into fits of anger when Plaintiff noted his infidelity to their relationship, or called him out about his extraneous activities. What had once been manipulation, control and intimidation now became something far more dangerous and sinister. Sharpe even figured out how to get into Doe’s apartment complex without her permission.”
That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Despite the serious allegations against Shannon Sharpe in the lawsuit, including claims of rape and threatening to kill the plaintiff, the media personality didn’t take long to respond to the civil complaint.
Yesterday, Sharpe released his own statement, which identified “Jane Doe” as Gabriella Zuniga, and combated the claims of sexual assault with text messages that were allegedly sent from Zuniga:
“The lawsuit, filed by Gabriella Zuniga and orchestrated by her attorney Tony Buzbee, is a blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars. It is filled with lies, distortions, and misrepresentations, and it will not succeed.
In her effort to extract a large financial settlement, Ms. Zuniga presented Mr. Sharpe with a secretly recorded video of a consensual sexual encounter. We believe the video has been heavily edited and taken entirely out of context, crafted to falsely portray a consensual act as non-consensual…
To set the record straight, we are releasing several of Ms. Zuniga’s own explicit text messages to Mr. Sharpe that clearly indicate the nature of their relationship was consensual and sexual in nature – and in many cases, initiated by her with specific and graphic requests.”
Those text messages are – objectively – pretty nasty.
Jane Doe, who Sharpe identified as Gabriella Zuniga, responded to that statement today by releasing an alleged phone call that she and Sharpe shared at some point during their relationship. It sounds as though Shannon Sharpe was not aware that he was being recorded, and it’s possible that Zuniga was attempting to provoke some harsh words from the media personality.
If that is what was happening, it worked. The woman accusing Sharpe kept using the word “manipulate,” which evidently got under the skin of Sharpe. He responded with a threat in a clip that was obtained by TMZ:
“Oh Lord have mercy. If you say that word one more time, I will f**king choke the sh*t out of you when I see you.”
Not a great look for Shannon Sharpe there. Although, it seems like role play and some aggressive sex was par for the course in their relationship. Her text messages explicitly mentioned wanting to be choked with a dog collar, so it’s unclear is this kind of conversation was commonplace for them, or if Shannon was sincerely threatening her.
Sharpe quickly responded to that with a recorded video of his own. This time, he most certainly knew he was being recorded, as he addressed those that he’s closest with and attempted to get out in front of a sex tape that he and his team believes will be released sooner rather than later. He also announced that he plans on countersuing for defamation:
“To my family, friends, supporters and colleagues, I want to speak to you directly and from the heart. This is a shakedown. I’m gonna be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn’t right. This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee. 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 into every stereotype you could possibly imagine.
That video should be 10 minutes or so, Hey Tony, instead of releasing your edit, put the whole video out. I don’t have it or I would myself. You know what happened and you’re trying to manipulate the media. That encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation, and now that appears to be a setup.”
Sheesh… and I’ve got a feeling things are only going to get uglier and uglier as this lawsuit unravels further.
