Shannon Sharpe will make his regular appearance on ESPN’s First Take tomorrow after a civil lawsuit alleging he engaged in sexual assault and battery was made public Monday morning.
According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Sharpe will do the show as normal on Tuesday, and he is not expected to address any of the allegations on air.
The 13-page lawsuit, which Sharpe was served on Easter Sunday, alleges the popular sports media personality secretly recorded their sexual encounters without her knowledge and also outlines two alleged incidents of sexual assault.
Sharpe responded to the lawsuit publicly on Monday afternoon, sharing a two-page statement from his legal counsel saying he “categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct.” In the statement, Sharpe’s lawyer includes text messages purportedly sent by the plaintiff, who they name as Gabriella Zuniga, that are intended to show that she consented to the sexual acts with Sharpe. Also included in the statement are claims that Zuniga deceptively edited video of her and Sharpe’s sexual encounters to suggest the acts were non-consensual.
The frequent First Take contributor appeared on the show Monday morning as news of the civil suit broke.
Last week, Front Office Sports reported that Shannon Sharpe could possibly ink a deal worth $100 million for Shay Shay Media, the company that holds his popular podcast Nightcap.