The ugly headlines around Shannon Sharpe have died down in recent weeks. The Pro Football Hall of Famer has stepped away from his ESPN role, but continues to produce his podcasts Club Shay Shay and Nightcap, which he co-hosts with Chad Johnson.
During the legal standoff between Sharpe and his former girlfriend over back-and-forth accusations of rape and blackmail, nearly everyone in media gave their take on Sharpe’s liability and his negotiating tactics.
The one person we never heard from was Johnson. The former NFL wideout known to most as “Ochocinco” continued to co-host Nightcap throughout Sharpe’s off-air issues and had not addressed the situation. That is, until this week, when Johnson joined the hit podcast This Past Weekend with comedian Theo Von.
In the interview, Johnson expressed his loyalty to Sharpe and how he has approached the fallout, which came shortly after the pair left The Volume and were pursuing a new deal for their show.
“Unc is going through his issues and whatnot. And Unc asked me to be a part of Nightcap. I’m gonna ride that wave because he asked me to come on,” Johnson explained.
“I’m not jumping ship because of his personal stuff. You handle whatever you need to handle, I’mma always be here. I’mma be here. If the ship goes down, b*tch I’m going down with it. When the ship was going good, I was right here. Just because it’s f*cking rocky, I ain’t going nowhere. I’m not going nowhere. So I’m gonna let Unc do what he needs to do, and we gon’ keep on filming, we gon’ keep on trucking, we gon’ keep our head down. He knows what he needs to do on his end, I’m gonna make sure I take care of my end and do what I need to do and show up.”
In late April, two days after news broke that Sharpe left The Volume in pursuit of a nine-figure deal for Club Shay Shay and Nightcap, a younger woman who previously had a romanctic relationship with Sharpe sued him. The civil lawsuit accuses Sharpe of rape, sexual assault and illegally recording their sexual encounters. The woman’s legal team threatened to release a full-length explicit recording of them as proof.
In response, Sharpe and his team released screenshots of messages between them featuring extremely lewd language. Sharpe repeatedly accused the woman of attempting blackmail. While the two sides apparently discussed a settlement earlier in the year, Sharpe insisted he will not settle.
Within the week, Sharpe was out at ESPN on a hiatus throughout at least the start of football season. But the former FS1 debate host has continued releasing his podcasts, with Johnson there throughout.
That seemingly won’t change any time soon. Chad Johnson is committed to his friend and business partner despite all the chaos.