Shannon Sharpe has managed to keep a strong presence on Nightcap and Club Shay Shay since losing his job at ESPN over allegations of sexual assault.
While Sharpe settled the lawsuit last summer, he has not returned to the Worldwide Leader and remains without a major partner for his show.
But in a recent segment on Nightcap, Sharpe revealed the important role Stephen A. Smith played in supporting him during the legal trouble last year, a relationship that continues to this day.
“One man called me every single week when I went through what I went through,” Sharpe said of Smith. That’s the one man, everything that I’ve gone through, all the mistakes, all the mishaps and slip-ups that I’ve had, that’s the one man who’s never turned his back on me.”
Sharpe added that Smith has given him a shoulder to lean on, dating back to his departure from FS1, when Undisputed co-host Skip Bayless pushed him out.
When ESPN dismissed Sharpe over the allegations from the former romantic partner last spring, Sharpe said Smith continued to have his back.
“I was like, hold on, where are all these people that I thought were cool with me?” Sharpe said. “Still to this day, the man calls me and says, ‘You’re killing it, y’all keep it going.'”
In the same segment, Sharpe also suggested that ESPN had tried to lure his Nightcap co-host, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, away as he addressed the allegations he was facing. Sharpe said rival media companies tried to convince Johnson that Nightcap was a sinking ship, though Johnson opted to stay put.
The co-hosts then boasted about their status in the industry about a year after Sharpe settled the suit. As they highlighted their viewership online and rankings among other sports podcasts on YouTube, Sharpe addressed the live chat directly, explaining that he avoids drama with other hosts, Smith in particular, because he prefers to entertain and inform his audience himself rather than relying on beef.
“We do what we do. We try to be the best at what we do. We try to be the best informed. We try to be entertaining, we try to be informative, we try to be all of that,” Sharpe said. “But I ain’t gotta talk bad about them, I ain’t gotta have an opinion on what he said. I’ll give you my own opinion on said subject.”
Just after news broke that Sharpe was seeking $100 million on a licensing partnership for Nightcap and Club Shay Shay last year, the former partner sued him. Sharpe and the woman traded supposed evidence through their legal teams before a quiet settlement in July.
Earlier this year, Sharpe offered some of his most detailed comments about the saga, likening his issues to those of former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, whose fall from grace in Ann Arbor also centered partly on the fallout of a romantic relationship.
Recently, Sharpe has expressed a desire to return to ESPN, though First Take has largely replaced him with Cam Newton and others.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.