Shannon Sharpe is facing sexual assault allegations in a lawsuit that was filed over the weekend by a woman claiming to be his ex-girlfriend.
According to court documents that were obtained by TMZ, a woman has accused Sharpe of raping her on multiple different occasions at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. The plaintiff says she was in an abusive relationship with Sharpe that began after the two met in 2023. The woman filed a lawsuit in Nevada and is seeking more than $50 million in damages.
The woman, who is identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, says she met Sharpe at a Los Angeles gym in 2023. She was 20 at the time and said Sharpe, who is 56, offered to buy her breast implants if she beat him in a weight-loss competition. The woman says she entered into a consensual relationship with Sharpe at some point after that, though the lawsuit claims Sharpe “demanded complete control over her time and body.”
The woman, who is represented by attorney Tony Buzbee, said she became terrified of Sharpe after an argument where a firearm was visible in his room. The woman says she shared her location on her phone with a friend because she feared for her safety, at which point Sharpe “grabbed her by the neck and told her, ‘If you ever do that again, I will f–ing kill you.'”
The relationship continued after that incident and the woman says she and Sharpe both moved to Nevada in 2024. In an alleged incident at her apartment in October of that year, the woman says Sharpe sexually assaulted her “while she was crying and sobbing.” She says Sharpe sexually assaulted her again in January 2025.
Buzbee is the same attorney who has represented most of the women who accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct.
The lawsuit against Sharpe was filed in the wake of reports that he is on the verge of signing a media deal worth more than $100 million.
Sharpe’s former co-host, Skip Bayless, was also part of a lawsuit earlier this year that includes allegations of sexual misconduct. There was some speculation that Sharpe may have had a hand in that suit.
Update: Sharpe’s legal team has issued a response to the lawsuit.
