Shannon Sharpe was in the midst of a mediation with the woman who accused him of rape when she filed a civil lawsuit against him “without warning,” according to his lawyer, Lanny J. Davis.
In a virtual press conference addressing the matter Tuesday, Davis said his client was willing to pay the plaintiff “at least $10 million” in a settlement for her silence.
Davis played a recording of Sharpe’s statement he released on Instagram Tuesday, calling it “a shakedown” by his accuser, and denied the allegations against his client.
Davis also said Sharpe’s accuser “took advantage” of his “very lucrative” contract for his podcast that was recently reported.
Sharpe was sued a day before Front Office Sports reported that he is expected to sign a deal for his “Club Shay Shay” podcast that would exceed $100 million after his contract with Colin Cowherd’s The Volume podcast network expired recently.
Shannon Sharpe looks on following a verbal altercation with Tee Morant during the Lakers-Grizzlies game on Jan. 20, 2023. Getty Images
“Her knowledge that Mr. Sharpe’s about to receive a very lucrative contract,” Davis said. “She knew that, took advantage of it and I describe this in my opinion that this is a classic definition of blackmail. That gives the greatest leverage to blackmail.”
Sharpe denied all allegations of coercion or misconduct in a statement through his counsel to The Post on Monday.
The ESPN personality did name his accuser in text message documents in a separate post on X.
