Sexual assault suit against Sharpe dismissed

Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images

NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe has resolved a lawsuit that accused him of sexual assault during a past relationship.

The case, brought under the pseudonym Jane Doe, had sought $50 million in damages and has now been dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, according to ESPN.

Tony Buzbee, the attorney for the woman, said in a statement Friday that “all matters have now been addressed satisfactorily.” No further details of the settlement were disclosed.

Sharpe, 57, had denied the accusations when the suit was filed in April in Nevada, calling them “false and disruptive.” He stepped away from his work at ESPN on April 24 but has said he plans to return ahead of the NFL preseason.

The woman, who first met Sharpe at a Los Angeles gym in 2023, alleged he raped her twice—in October 2024 and January 2025—during what both sides have now described as a consensual but tumultuous relationship.

Sharpe, a three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time All-Pro, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Since retiring in 2003, he has built a high-profile media career, recently moving from FS1’s “Undisputed” to ESPN.

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Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images