Shannon Sharpe on First Take Screen grab: ESPN ‘First Take’

The woman accusing Shannon Sharpe of sexual assault and rape in a lawsuit released audio of a conversation she allegedly had with the ESPN personality.

According to the accuser’s attorney Tony Buzbee, the conversation heard in the 1:36 minute audio clip sent to TMZ Sports allegedly took place toward the end of her relationship with Sharpe.

In the audio, Sharpe and the woman can be heard appearing to have a dispute. At one point, Sharpe tells the woman “You want to be a d*ck to me now.” The dispute escalated after the woman replied with, “Don’t manipulate me.”


Sharpe then allegedly tells the woman “Lord have mercy. If you say that word one more time, I will f*cking choke the sh*t out of you when I see you.”

After a lengthy pause, the woman says “I don’t want to be choked,” to which Sharpe appears to reply with “Yes, you do. I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.”

The lawsuit against Sharpe was filed on April 20 by a woman identified as “Jane Doe.” Sharpe has since named the woman in response to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff is seeking $50 million in damages. Last week, it was reported that Sharpe’s Shay Shay Media could be in line for a $100 million deal as his contract with The Volume comes to an end.

Shannon Sharpe has adamantly denied the accusations against him, releasing text messages to show they both had a history of using graphic language in their relationship. One text message shared by Sharpe’s attorney on Monday showed the woman once requested the ESPN personality and Shay Shay Media founder to “put a dog collar around my neck and choke me with it while you’re f*cking me.”

Despite the allegations, Sharpe continued to host his Nightcap podcast and has remained on ESPN’s First Take. The alleged audio of Sharpe threatening his accuser was released while First Take was on-air Tuesday morning.

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com