NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe has been accused of raping a woman multiple times in a relationship defined by “manipulation, control and intimidation” in a civil lawsuit filed Sunday.
The suit was filed in Las Vegas by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe. It seeks $50 million in damages.
The woman “left Nevada to temporarily escape Shannon Sharpe,” the suit reads. “She now seeks justice through this action and other means.”
Sharpe, 56, first approached the woman in January 2023 at a gym in Los Angeles when she was 20 years old, according to the lawsuit. the “Club Shay Shay” podcaster relentlessly pursued the woman until she caved to his advances, the suit claims.
The suit describes a “rocky consensual relationship” between the two in which Sharpe made repeated demands of the woman.
Sharpe “continued to control her — not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically. He demanded complete control over her time and body, expecting her to be at his house on his schedule, at his command, whenever he called,” the suit says.
In one instance, Sharpe berated the woman while a gun was visible in the room, according to the suit. The woman said she shared her location with her friends in case something happened, but Sharpe saw her and threatened to kill her.
Both Sharpe and the woman moved to Las Vegas in 2024, but their relationship spiraled that September after Sharpe accidentally live-streamed himself on Instagram having sex with another woman, the lawsuit claims.
In October 2024, Sharpe forced the woman to perform oral sex on him and then raped her while she cried, then met her again in January 2025 and did the same thing, according to the suit. Following the January incident, the accuser left Nevada.
Sharpe, a prominent face in sports talk on ESPN, has not publicly responded to the allegations. He made his regularly scheduled appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday morning.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been accused of sex assault and battery in the past. In 2010, a woman filed for a restraining order against Sharpe and said he forced her to have sex with him. At the time, Sharpe was part of CBS’ football pregame show but temporarily stepped aside.
Between 1994 and 2004, Sharpe was involved in 10 cases with three women in Fulton County civil court in Georgia, according to The Associated Press. The cases included “paternity and domestic matters.”
