Shannon Sharpe was served with a civil lawsuit on Easter Sunday, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
Filed in Nevada state court by a woman identified as “Jane Doe,” the 13-page complaint accuses Sharpe of assault, sexual assault, battery, and sexual battery. It also alleges he intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
This comes just days after reports that Shannon Sharpe’s Shay Shay Media could be in line for a deal worth up to $100 million as his contract with The Volume nears its end. Sharpe’s post-FS1 rise has been undeniably impressive, but it now faces a serious cloud with these allegations looming.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff and Shannon Sharpe were involved in what she described as a “rocky consensual relationship” that spanned nearly two years.
In the lawsuit, she accuses Sharpe of secretly recording their sexual encounters without her knowledge and sharing the footage with others. She also alleges that the now-infamous Instagram livestream, in which Sharpe was seen engaging in a sexual act, involved another woman, who was not her.
According to the complaint, that incident began her decision to distance herself from Sharpe. The suit claims she stopped responding to his calls and withheld her location, and Sharpe began persistently pursuing her.
The lawsuit also alleges two instances of sexual assault: one in October 2024, when the plaintiff tried to break things off with Sharpe, and another in January 2025, when she says he ignored her requests to stop and refused to use protection during sex.
She’s seeking at least $50 million in damages. Her legal team includes Micah Nash and Tony Buzbee, who gained prominence for representing over 20 women in civil cases against Deshaun Watson.
Shannon Sharpe has yet to publicly respond to the allegations. He appeared on ESPN’s airwaves Monday morning.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.