On Shannon Sharpe, terrible decision-making and fumbling the bag

OPINION: Shannon Sharpe is making rookie mistakes that he 100 percent should know better than to be making in light of sexual assault allegations against him.

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

Shannon Sharpe is currently being sued by a “Jane Doe” (who has since been identified by Sharpe’s legal team as, allegedly, Gabrielle Zuniga) in a civil suit filed in Nevada for $50 million dollars, alleging sexual assault, battery, manipulation, and a litany of other things. According to reports, Sharpe and the accuser met in 2023 in a Los Angeles gym when she was 19 years old and then maintained a “rocky consensual relationship” over the next few years.

Since that news dropped, Sharpe has claimed that the civil suit is a shakedown for money (the accuser is being represented by Tony Buzbee, the attorney famously representing multiple accusers against Sean “Diddy” Combs in his ongoing legal case and was on the team that formerly represented accusers against Cleveland Browns quarterback, DeShaun Watson). There are currently no criminal charges filed against Sharpe. 

Where does one even start with this situation? Sharpe is currently one of the most famous media personalities in America, occupying a seat on ESPN’s “First Take” and continuing to churn out (at times) culturally resonant interviews on his YouTube interview show, “Club Shay Shay.” Sharpe, who is not some commentator who just got famous, is also an NFL Hall of Fame tight end who won three Super Bowls as a member of the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens. Sharpe isn’t new to this life of fame, access, and celebrity. 

The fact that Shannon Sharpe has been a highly visible athlete, though he is absolutely more famous now than he was as a football player, is why his current situation is so dumbfounding: Sharpe should KNOW better than to get himself into situations that threaten his bag with people who have way less to lose than he does.

Look, I don’t know Shannon Sharpe personally, so he could be an absolutely abhorrent human being behind the scenes, which is more or less what the accuser is claiming. But I’d argue that Sharpe shouldn’t even be in this mess to begin with. What is this mess, by the way?

Aside from the $50 million civil suit, we have explicit text messages publicized, he’s had to get on his social media and release statements and every day it seems another recorded conversation with the accuser “leaks” where he is threatening to “choke her.” Like, even if you were to think that what is happening to Sharpe is indeed a shakedown, which is possible (according to his lawyer, the accuser and Sharpe were in the midst of a $10 million settlement before she filed the $50 million suit) the recorded conversations do not help his case at all on the legal front.

Assuming that those conversations are real, I would imagine they check off some legal box that sends this case right to an expensive settlement as Sharpe is reportedly in the midst of some 9-figure podcast negotiations.  It has placed Sharpe into the center of a stupid conversation now. And he should know better than to even be here. Sharpe is a man who can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants whenever he wants. I would imagine that sums up his life at this point anyway. But Sharpe is also dealing with a woman who could be his grandchild and then engaging in behavior that is *FIT* for being placed on the front page of social media.

That’s not to say Sharpe wouldn’t have to address or be accountable in a situation if he was dealing with older women—bad decisions are bad decisions no matter the age of the participants. Yet the fact that we know Sharpe is essentially swimming in the shallow end of the pool agewise, and then we hear accusations which make him look really funny in the light (and I mean that in the Black way, where that isn’t a compliment), makes it seem like a really bad decision.

Sharpe should be past the point of making terrible decisions in this department, especially with so much to lose in life. The man is arguably as famous and as popular as he’s ever going to be. I’ve never been NEARLY that famous but I promise you I have genuinely considered how most of my interactions with people might play out should things go left. I have avoided certain situations entirely because you never know who’s recording (my wife is 35 and LIVES on her phone; a 23-year-old is literally screenshotting and recording EVERYTHING) and I don’t want to get put on that Summer Jam screen, a reference that I’m sure Sharpe knows but his accuser wouldn’t. 

I don’t know how this incident will impact his financial security and future, but I know Sharpe works for ESPN, which is owned by Disney and Mickey Mouse does not like publicity problems. I can’t imagine this entire situation gets swept under the rug for the sake of Shannon Sharpe. Even Stephen A. Smith had to speak on it and he is one of Sharpe’s close friends. I would bet the conversation that all of Sharpe’s friends are having starts with, “Bruh, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!??!” Or, more like, “Come on, dawg!!!! You got to be smarter than this!” 

I hope Sharpe isn’t out here sexually assaulting anybody and that this is a shakedown, though the alleged offer that was on the table makes it seem less likely. But based on the things being released, it’s looking more and more like Sharpe is headed to a large “undisclosed settlement” which makes him look bad. And in the eyes of all of us paying attention, we know a fumbled bag when we see one.

We just don’t understand how Sharpe, a man who has been in or near this spotlight for decades, is still out here making rookie mistakes. I hope he’s learning a lesson and makes better decisions about his partners or we’re going to be right back here soon. Hopefully, this isn’t just the beginning.  

Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).