Stephen A Smith breaks silence on the Shannon Sharpe rape allegations engulfing his First Take co-host
Stephen A Smith has spoken out on his First Take co-host, Shannon Sharpe, being accused of rape, refusing to condemn or defend his fellow sports broadcaster amid the heinous allegations.
A bombshell $50m lawsuit against Sharpe was launched Monday, with the former NFL tight end vehemently denying the claims. Sharpe has also vowed to sue the accuser for defamation.
‘I don’t know where this is going to go, I can’t speak to anything else,’ Smith said Tuesday. ‘I don’t know who Shannon Sharpe’s legal team is and what they’re suggesting.’
‘I imagine everything that has transpired has been at the behest of his lawyers, not just himself. I can tell you again that when I spoke to him, he is emphatic in stating his innocence, that this is a shakedown, to use his words.’
‘How wise is it top use those kinds of word when a civil matter of this nature is out there, when you have a podcast and you have advertisers and sponsors and you work for ESPN and they have advertisers and sponsors, I don’t know.’
Smith and Sharpe have worked together for a few years, ever since the former NFL tight end jumped to ESPN from Fox. Eyes on Smith have increased tenfold since his aspirations to be the Democratic nominee for President in 2028 gained some momentum.
Stephen A Smith has spoken out on his co-host Shannon Sharpe facing rape allegations
A bombshell lawsuit against Sharpe was launched Monday, with him denying the allegations
‘What can we say if any of us were in that position and we felt or were proclaiming that we were innocent? I don’t know,’ Smith continued. ‘And I’m not about to pretend. I just wanted to make sure that I echoed to all of you that the only reason I spoke on this issue is because he works with me two days a week.’
‘He’s on national television. He was on national television with me today. He was on national television with me yesterday when the story came out Sunday night. I didn’t know anything about it until we got on the air. But he was on-air.’
‘And if you know him in part because of all the work that he’s doing with me and what he’s doing in this industry, I know everybody’s been waiting like, “Stephen A, what you got to say about this?” I got to say what I just told you.’
‘I don’t know what’s happened. I know I got love for the brother. I know that I’m wishing that he’s innocent and all of this stuff goes away and he can continue to thrive with me on ESPN and thrive in his own platforms that he worked so diligently over the years to build.’
‘But anything else would be entirely irresponsible for me to speak on and I can’t do that. Yes I own this, this is my platform. But I also have a day job and I also understand what lawyers, what HR, and all those other things entail.’
‘What I said is all I can say and in all honesty, at this moment, it is all I know. I have no idea what direction ESPN and Walt Disney will go in when it comes to this matter. All I do know is, it won’t be me making the decision, it will be others upstairs.’
