Whitlock: Shannon Sharpe aiming to rip off ESPN to fund accuser settlements

Professional football Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe was recently hit with a $50 million civil lawsuit. The plaintiff, 20-year-old OnlyFans model Gabriella “Gabbi” Zuniga, alleges over the course of their two-year relationship, Sharpe raped her twice, recorded sexual encounters without consent, and threatened her.

Even though Sharpe has denied the allegations and insisted his encounters with Zuniga were “100% consensual,” he has temporarily stepped down from his role at ESPN.

In a statement, Sharpe wrote, “At this juncture I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason."

Jason Whitlock, however, says what’s probably going on behind the scenes is ESPN and Sharpe are engaged in a “negotiation about his exit.”

“If Shannon Sharpe quits ... he surrenders all that money; if ESPN can fire him for cause, he surrenders all that money,” he says. “[Sharpe] wants ESPN to have to fire him without cause so that he can get some of that money that ESPN owes him.”

Granted Zuniga’s attorney is Tony Buzbee, who has a long history of prosecuting black celebrities, Sharpe is going to need all the money he can get.

“If he's going to survive, even in the podcast space, he's going to have to reach a bunch more settlements with potential accusers” because Buzbee’s MO is “[kicking] up enough dust and enough controversy that other accusers come out of the woodwork, and they all want settlements,” Jason explains.

“ESPN likely wants to fire him with cause and say, ‘We don't owe you an additional dime.’ Shannon Sharpe wants them to fire him without cause so he can get” a portion of his salary “in a settlement, and then he can take that money and dole it out to his accusers,” he continues.

“He can then do 'Club Shay Shay,' and the corporations and advertisers that support 'Club Shay Shay' can all put the blinders back on.”

Sharpe’s claim that he’s temporarily stepping away from ESPN is most likely “a delay tactic as they negotiate his exit.”

To hear more of Jason’s analysis, watch the episode above.

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