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The Stephen A. Smith Show
Stephen A's Take: Stephen A responds to Shannon Sharpe's 'This is a shakedown.'
00:18:47
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- [00:00]
Stephen A. Smith
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Greg Rosenthal
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Stephen A. Smith
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Greg Rosenthal
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Stephen A. Smith
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- [00:40]
Greg Rosenthal
The 40s and free agents Podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and Greg Rosenthal has prepared you for the 2025 NFL Draft. We've told you what last year's playoff teams need to return to the postseason and how teams with new coaches should approach the draft. So as draft season comes to a close, we've got you covered. Before your favorite team goes on the clock, we'll break it all down once all 257 picks have been made. Listen to the 40s and free agents podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:14]
Stephen A. Smith
Today is a different day because of where I have to get started and where I have to finish. There's only going to be one subject discussed today and it's where we're getting started. It's involving some news that broke yesterday involving Shannon Sharp, my colleague Eddie ESPN and my friend, the hall of Fame tight end was sued on Sunday by a woman proceeding under the name Jane DOE pseudonym. The 13 page civil complaint filed in Nevada alleges that Sharp committed assault, sexual assault, battery and sexual battery. The plaintiff alleges Sharp sexually assaulted her several times at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. The suit also alleges that Shannon engaged in the intentional infliction of emotional distress. It should be noted that the suit was filed by attorney Tony Busby. This is the same attorney that filed a suit against Jay Z and P. Diddy alleging they both sexually assaulted a minor, which has since been withdrawn. JC Jay Z also has countersued Busby. By the way, the plaintiff in a Sharp civil suit is not the woman heard in the accidental Instagram live stream incident that made headlines last September of last year. In response to the suit, Shannon and his legal team went to social media yesterday and released a series of allegedly sexually explicit text messages between him and the Jane Doe. In addition to that, they issued the following statement, quote this lawsuit filed by Gabriella Zuninga and orchestrated by her attorney Tony Busby, is a blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharp for millions of dollars. It is filled with lies, distortions and misrepresentations and it will not succeed, end quote. Then earlier today, Jane Doe's attorney, Tony Busby sent TMZ sports a 1 minute and 36 second clip of an alleged conversation between his client and Shannon. In response to that clip, Shannon Sharp went back to social media and issued this response. Take a look.
- [03:37]
Shannon Sharpe
To my family, friends, supporters and colleagues, I want to speak to you directly and from the heart. This is a shakedown. I'm going to be open, transparent and defend myself because this isn't right. This is all being orchestrated by Tony Busby, who is targeted. Jay Z. Tony Busby 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 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. You know what happened and you're trying to manipulate the media. The encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation. And now that appears to be a deliberate setup coordinated by Gabby, also known as Carly on OnlyFans. Gabby and Tony Busby want $50 million. What they're getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down. My career is all about real talk and honesty. I know my family and fans know exactly what this is about. And I'm going to be out there telling you whatever I need to say, just like I always do. I love all you guys. Thanks.
- [04:47]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, success situation. Shannon Sharp is somebody I work with a couple of days a week. Shannon Sharp is somebody that I brought to ESPN, works on First Take, which airs on ESPN every weekday morning from 10am to 12 noon Eastern Standard Time. He's been with me every Monday and Tuesday. We've been number one for 13 years and counting. But since Shannon has arrived, obviously he's helped the show immensely and I can't thank him enough for it. We've grown close as friends. I'd like to believe that. I certainly root for him. I know he's been through a lot in life. He's overcome a lot of things. And when he departed from Fox, I was more than happy to bring him on board here. So all I can speak about is what I know based on the reports and I can speak about ESPN and Disney. To be clear, even though this op, this, this podcast, this YouTube show is owned and operated by me solely, it doesn't mean that I'm Going to be dismissive of espn, who employs me in my daytime job on first take. So I sit here before you today letting you know that they are aware that this is a subject that I was going to broach because I owe them that courtesy. With that being said, it's important to point out a couple of things. Number one, I was not there. I am not. I can provide no eyewitness account. And even though I got love and respect for Shannon Sharp, and I'm sincerely hopeful and prayerful that he is completely innocent of the allegations that have been levied against him, I can't sit here and speak to his innocence or guilt from a knowledgeable place because I have nothing to do with this. I haven't seen anything. I don't know anything. I don't even know this person. I know what the reports say. I know the reports, the things that have been reported on a multitude of outlets from the AP to the New York Post to Forbes to TMZ and then everything in between. I mean, I can't even count the number of publications that have talked about it or written about it. Networks, et cetera. It's all over the Internet. It's everywhere. And I know that. I'm fully aware of that. This is not a criminal case. So it's not. There is no concern about him going to jail. This is a civil case, which means that he can either be found liable or not liable. The accuser in question is seeking $50 million. That was confirmed by Shannon Sharp on that video today. According to the reports, it's somebody that he met in 2023 who was 19 years old at that particular moment in time. According to some audio that was put out earlier to this today by attorney Busby. You hear the accuser, the female, talking to somebody who is alleged to be Shannon Sharp. We don't know whether that's true or not. And the person in question, again, we don't know whether it's Shannon or not. Otherwise the words choke, as in, I will choke the hell out of you if I saw you. And so because of that, knowing that audio was probably going to come out along with additional tapes, whether they be video or audio, is unclear. At this particular moment in time, Shannon Sharp felt compelled to come out in his own defense. How we interpret that let me be very, very clear about where I'm coming from. I'm a bit torn in terms of his response. On one hand, Tony Busby has sued Jay Z. He did sue Diddy. He did accuse them or represented the woman who was accusing them of assault, of sexual assault, and said that she was 13 years of age at the time when talking about Jay Z and Diddy. And Jay Z went ballistic and emphatically denied it, wouldn't let it go. The case was dropped. And now he's suing Busby, mentioning words like extortion and other things. So when Shannon Sharpe brought Mr. Busby in that video that we aired and talked about it, him being extorted, he brought up Mr. Busby and Mr. Busby's past. He talked about him, you know, going against African American men. There's two thoughts there. On one hand, there's the Jay Z who obviously should be presumed innocent. Not just because you should be presumed innocent until found guilty, but because of the manner in which he fought on his own behalf and has been very aggressive in going after Tony Busby. In the case of P. Diddy. In the case of P. Diddy, you don't know what to believe. Again, the case against Jay Z was a civil suit. Diddy was a civil suit. But in Diddy, you don't know what to believe because of all the allegations he's facing. But we can't forget that Tony Busby was also the person that represented at least 24 of the 27 women that accused DeShawn Watson of sexual misconduct along with other allegations. And at least 23 of those cases were settled. So we have an obligation to mention that. So on one hand, going on the offensive to defend himself, I completely understand where Shannon Sharp is coming from. On the other hand, when his legal team issued out the press release on X yesterday, and they spoke about. They mentioned her name, and they revealed some of those explicit text messages. That was uncomfortable. And I don't know if that's a strategy that would work. One of the hardest things in the world for all of us to do is to just lay low and be quiet and let our legal team do it. And we don't always know whether or not that's the right thing to do. I know, and I can tell you all that I spoke to Shannon. Not in details, but I spoke to him. And he emphatically proclaims his innocence. According to Mr. Busby, his client emphatically proclaims his guilt. So where does that leave us? I'd love to tell you that I know the answer to that question, but I don't. I am the executive producer. A first take on espn. I recruited Shannon. I went and got him and brought him to espn, but I'm not the boss. Those are other folks. There are layers to this. And there are certain layers even I am not on, I can tell you. I also spoke to co chairman of Disney the Boss, Jimmy Pitaro, who made it very, very clear we are 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. And that is all he said. And I can mention his name because I received his permission to say that I don't know what that means. In my perfect world, this equates to Jay Z, where the case ultimately dropped and Shannon is allowed to continue on first take and continue to thrive and shine. And not just that. And have an illustrious career in the podcast stratosphere, doing nightcap with Chad Ochocinko, doing Club Shay Shay. And ultimately gets this $100 million deal that he was all over the news about to sign just a couple of days before this report came out. In my perfect world, he moves on. And somehow, some way, we find this all to be false. But it doesn't seem like that's the way things are about to go down. Considering who Mr. Busby is and how emphatic his client is proclaiming that she is right and she's telling the truth. I don't know where this is going to go. I can't speak to anything else. I don't know who Shannon Sharpe's legal team is and what they're suggesting. I imagine that everything that has transpired has been at the behest of his lawyers, not just himself. I can tell you again that when I spoke to him, he is emphatic in stating his innocence, that this is a shakedown. To use his words. How wise is it to use those kind of words when a civil matter of this nature is out there? When you have a podcast and you have advertisers and sponsors and you work for ESPN and they have advertising sponsors, I don't know. What can we say? If any of us were in that position and we felt or were proclaiming we were innocent, I don't know and I'm not about to pretend. I just wanted to make sure that I echo to all of you that the only reason I spoke on this issue is because he works with me two days a week. He's on national television. He was on national television with me today. He was on national television with me yesterday when the story came out Sunday night. I didn't know anything about it until we got on the air, but he was on air. And if you know him in part because of all the work that he's doing with me and what he's doing in this industry. I know everybody's been waiting like Stephen A. What you got to say about this? I got to say what I just told you. I don't know what's happened. I know I got love for the brother. I know that I'm wishing that he's innocent and all of this stuff goes away and he can continue to thrive with me on ESPN and thrive in his own platforms that he worked so diligently over the years to build. But anything else would be entirely irresponsible for me to speak on, and I can't do that. Yes, I own this. This is my platform, but also have a day job and also understand what lawyers with HR and all of those other things entail. What I said is all I can say. And in all honesty, at this moment, it is all I know. I have no idea what direction ESPN and Walt Disney will go in when it comes to this matter. All I do know is it won't be me making a decision. It won't. It'll be others upstairs. In the end, all of us have someone to answer to, no matter how maverick we try to be. And we own our own business and we're our sole proprietors, like I am on this platform and stuff like that. They are advertised, they are sponsors, they are people you do business with, they are partners and they're our bosses. That's the situation, unfortunately, that Shannon Sharpe finds himself in at this particular moment in time. I sincerely wish him the best. I got love for him, and I hope all of this is just a sad ordeal that goes away because there was no truth to it. But I don't know. Neither do you or the rest of us. And only time will tell what the truth is.
- [20:01]
Greg Rosenthal
The 40s and free agents Podcast with Daniel, Jeremiah and Greg Rosenthal has prepared you for the 2025 NFL Draft. We've told you what last year's playoff teams need to return to the postseason and how teams with new coaches should approach the draft. So as draft season comes to a close, we've got you covered. Before your favorite team goes on the clock, we'll break it all down once all 257 picks have been made. Listen to the 40s and free agents podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [20:33]
Stephen A. Smith
Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up.
- [20:37]
Shannon Sharpe
See, retirement is the long game.
- [20:39]
Stephen A. Smith
We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback just save and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement. Org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.