Under-fire Shannon Sharpe has revealed his intentions to attend the NFL Draft in Green Bay Thursday night, despite the drama surrounding his bombshell rape lawsuit continuing to intensify.
The 56-year-old is being sued by one of his ex-girlfriends for $50million over claims he repeatedly raped her during the relationship – allegations he vehemently denies after countering that she is merely trying to score a major financial settlement.
Yet, despite skipping ESPN’s First Take show Wednesday morning amid the shocking allegations, the former tight end still plans to show his face at Lambeau Field on Thursday to join Chad Ochocinco to co-host a draft night special of their podcast, ‘Nightcap.’
Sharpe and Ochocinco are set to interview NFL legends and new draftees throughout the first round of the draft during a live broadcast of their show, the podcast announced on Instagram on Wednesday.
Since news of the lawsuit first broke on Monday, both the Super Bowl winner and the accuser’s respective attorneys have brought shocking new evidence to light over the past 48 hours, including a text which shows her telling him ‘no means no’ after an alleged rape in January.
Audio footage provided to the Daily Mail Tuesday also captures him threatening to choke the woman who is now suing him, which his lawyer has claimed was ‘in the heat of the moment’ while insisting the violent threat was ‘not intended.’
Under-fire Shannon Sharpe has revealed his intentions to attend the NFL Draft Thursday
The former tight end is set to be at Lambeau Field in Green Bay for the first round of the draft
Sharpe will co-host a draft night special of his podcast with Chad Ochocinco (pictured)
The accuser claims she was abused by Sharpe over the course of their near one-year relationship, which began when she was 20 and he was 53 back in 2023.
The first alleged rape is said to have taken place in October of last year, with the lawsuit claiming he forced himself on her as she ‘was crying and sobbing.’ Sharpe is accused of raping her again in January after arriving at her home with promises of Christmas and birthday gifts.
In an alleged text exchange between the two parties in January – which was provided to the Daily Mail on Tuesday by Shannon’s attorney Lanny J. Davis, who claims they show ‘a pattern of sexual role-playing’ initiated by the accuser – the woman in question confronts him for forcing himself upon her without consent.
According to files released by the defense team, her bombshell message on January 2, 2025, said: ‘I cried when u left because I begged you to put a condom on and not put it in my a** and u didn’t listen. I don’t care what our history is, no means no shannon.’
‘Idk [I don’t know] how to process this,’ she added.
The evening prior, the accuser – who is believed to be in her 20s – allegedly text Sharpe demanding he made a payment to her, which she appeared to suggest had previously been promised.
Plaintiff attorney Tony Buzbee released a second recorded phone call, purportedly between Sharpe and his now-ex. And just like the previous tape, which Sharpe’s attorney described as both authentic and misleading, the 56-year-old is again heard sharing his plans to choke his partner.
Significantly, the date of the recording is unknown and much of the context around the conversation remains unclear.
Sharpe broke his silence on the suit in a pre-recorded video statement on Instagram Tuesday
‘I’m not really interested in getting choked,’ the woman is heard saying in the tape recording first published by TMZ.
‘I may choke you in public,’ a man’s voice, believed to Sharpe’s, is said heard saying. ‘Big black guy chokes small white woman.’
The woman responded after a brief pause: ‘It’s not a good look, Shannon.’
‘Not a good look that you did what the s*** you did to me,’ the man’s voice fired back, although it’s difficult to say what he was referring to.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Sharpe’s attorney, Davis, and Buzbee for further details.
The tape is eerily similar to the other call previously released by Buzbee’s office to DailyMail.com in which Sharpe is heard saying: ‘I’m gonna f***ing choke the s*** out of you when I see you.’
Davis has confirmed the authenticity of that recording, but claimed his client was speaking ‘in the heat of the moment’ and the violent threat was ‘not intended.’
Doe allegedly tried to pull away from Sharpe after he livestreamed a sexual encounter with another women – something he claims he did ‘on accident.’ But she claims Sharpe became irate.
‘On October 6, 2024, Plaintiff was working out at a Nevada gym, following her usual routine,’ the filing read. ‘As she worked out, she saw Sharpe aggressively approaching her. She could tell by his look and the way he moved quickly towards her that he was furious for having been ignored.
‘As soon as he got close, he told her, ”Sit the f*** down or I’m going to kill you,”’ the filing continued. ‘Plaintiff refused. ”I don’t want to talk to you. You cheated on me.”
‘His response was dismissive and controlling as usual. ”You don’t have a choice.”’
