On the list of things Shannon Sharpe has to worry about at this moment, getting called out for screenshotting his supposed personal statement from one of his reps is low on the list.
That doesn’t mean people will let it slide, however.
Several days after being served with a lawsuit that accuses him of sexual assault and rape, followed by several days of public back-and-forths with the accuser, Sharpe announced Thursday he would “step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties.” The announcement came in the form of a screenshot that included Sharpe’s entire statement, with his name attached at the end to indicate he authored it.
However, social media users quickly noted that the screenshot of an iMessage that Sharpe must have received from a member of his PR or legal team. And that led to a whole round of clowning the First Take co-host for not taking the extra care to make it seem as though he’d penned the statement himself.
It’s not unheard of for a famous person’s public relations or legal team to draft a statement on their behalf. It happens all the time. However, it was the lack of care that Sharpe showed for the situation with the copy and paste that seemed to bother people. Given the seriousness of the accusations against him and the way he has handled the situation in the days since, Sharpe really didn’t need to give people a reason to think he is being flippant about things, which is precisely what the screenshot implies, fair or not.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.