Shannon Sharpe, podcaster and NFL champion, sued for sexual assault

Shannon Sharpe, a Superbowl champion and host of a popular podcast, has been accused of sexual assault in a Nevada lawsuit.

The lawsuit was brought by a woman who alleges Mr Sharpe used his fame to “manipulate, control, subjugate and violate women”.

The accuser, who was 19 at the time she met Mr Sharpe in 2023, says in a legal filing that the pair had a nearly two-year relationship, during which time Mr Sharpe was “aggressive” and allegedly raped her.

Mr Sharpe has denied the allegations and said he is the target of a “shakedown”.

The suit seeks more than $50 million (£37.6 million) in compensatory and punitive damages.

The accuser is the only person suing, and she does not provide details on her accusation that Mr Sharpe hurt more than herself.

According to the suit, the woman met Mr Sharpe, currently aged 56, in a Los Angeles gym and had a “rocky consensual relationship”.

“After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of ‘no,'” the complaint alleges.

The woman alleges that Mr Sharpe raped her as recently as January.

In addition, she alleges in the suit that Mr Sharpe insisted on recording some of the sexual encounters, sometimes without her consent or knowledge, shared the videos with his ” friends and associates”.

Mr Sharpe has 4 million subscribers to his Club Shay Shay podcast, and is reportedly in negotiations on a $100m deal for his network of shows.

“This is a shakedown,” he said in a video posted to Instagram late Tuesday, addressing the lawsuit. “I’m going to be open, transparent and defend myself, because this isn’t right.”

Mr Sharpe then accused the woman’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of filing a fraudulent lawsuit and threatened to sue for defamation.

Mr Buzbee represented a plaintiff who accused rapper Jay-z of misconduct and ultimately rescinded her allegation. He also worked with several female massage therapists who accused NFL star Deshaun Watson of sexual assault.

“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,” Sharpe said. “That video should actually 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.”

Last year, Mr Sharpe livestreamed audio of an intimate encounter with his millions of followers on Instagram, and later apologised, saying he had mistakenly turned on the app’s “Live” feature.

Mr Sharpe played in the NFL for 14 years and won three Super Bowls. He went on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and has had a long sports broadcasting career.