Stephen A. Smith responds to lawsuit, allegations against Shannon Sharpe

For the first time since news broke of a lawsuit and rape allegations against Shannon Sharpe, Stephen A. Smith responded. The ESPN host addressed the situation on his podcast Tuesday night.

Sharpe confirmed the lawsuit Tuesday, first reported by TMZ. A woman is suing the Pro Football Hall of Famer for $50 million and alleges he raped her on multiple occasions after the two met in 2023. She is represented by Tony Buzbee, who represented clients accusing Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct and Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual abuse.

Smith spoke about his relationship with Sharpe and the impact he had on First Take since joining the show last year. But when it comes to the lawsuit and situation as a whole, Smith said he doesn’t have all the facts and, therefore, cannot speak knowledgeably about whether Sharpe is innocent or guilty. He added he told ESPN officials he would discuss the subject on his show.

“It’s a sad situation,” Smith said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “Shannon Sharpe is somebody I work with a couple of days a week. Shannon Sharpe is somebody that I brought to ESPN, works on First Take … He’s been with me every Monday and Tuesday. We’ve been No. 1 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. … With that being said, it’s important to point out a couple of things. One, I was not there. I can provide no eyewitness account.

“And even though I’ve got love and respect for Shannon Sharpe, 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 knowledgable 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.”

Stephen A. Smith ‘looking into this very, very closely’

Sharpe’s lawyers released a blistering statement in response to the lawsuit, wholly denying the allegations against the former Denver Broncos tight end. He also put out a video Tuesday addressing the situation and potential next steps.

As things move forward, Smith said officials at ESPN – including Jimmy Pitaro – are aware of the lawsuit and allegations. However, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen next.

“I am the executive producer of First Take on ESPN,” Smith said. “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 that 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 is ultimately dropped and Shannon is allowed to continue on First Take and continue to thrive and shine. … 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. Buzbee is and how emphatic his client is proclaiming that she is right and she’s telling the truth.”