IF SHARPE RETURNS, ESPN SHOULD BRACE FOR ATTORNEYS WHO WANT DISNEY MONEY
It’s unfathomable that the network would renew ties with a broadcaster — who resolved a lawsuit with a young woman who accused him of rape — while others targeted by ESPN might be calling lawyers
Let’s compare. For $50 million, Shannon Sharpe was sued by a woman who said he raped her. He has resolved that civil case for fewer millions, though her claims are frightening — assault, sexual assault, battery, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Sharpe now believes he can return to ESPN as a commentator on “First Take.” If Stephen A. Smith runs the company, as he thinks, the NFL Hall of Famer will be back soon without an apology.
I happen to know someone else whose ratings at the network were better than Smith’s. I know that he appeared on 1,549 programs in eight years, winning 329 times on “Around The Horn.” He was sued for a far lesser amount than Sharpe. He gave up NO money — zero dollars — after defending himself vigorously because he knew a plaintiff was eyeballing his wallet. The case was expunged quickly. Unlike Sharpe, he kept his money. He has led a great life in California for 14 years, though Wikipedia and bad media still mistreat him without doing a shred of homework.
He lost his debate role, after other panelists ripped him on the air before he even hired an attorney. He never returned to the network and was trashed by Scott Van Pelt and other sportscasters, who didn’t do their homework. Leaving the television racket improved his career immensely, as he continues to write better sports columns than ever at Substack. The network tried to ruin him professionally when he reported — during his job interview with a producer from another company — that “SportsCenter” godfather John Walsh was beyond askew in the Beverly Wilshire hotel bar. Eventually, Walsh’s in-house protector, president John Skipper, was fired by boss Bob Iger in a cocaine snafu.
Wonderful people, huh?
The same man should sue ESPN if Sharpe returns. Is chairman Jimmy Pitaro going to forgive Sharpe while ignoring the past predicaments of others? Another who might sue is former host Samantha Ponder, who was dismissed last year after she spoke out against transgender women participating in women’s sports. One day, she received an email from an executive who said the company was “uncomfortable” with her comments and wasn’t “going to allow me to misgender people.” The only message should have been to keep her comments off the Internet, which is fair for someone who was paid seven figures. Instead, Ponder lost her gig leading “Sunday NFL Countdown.”
“I was told after the fact privately that most people at the top of the company did agree with me on the issue, but there is a loud activist group at Disney and they were not happy with me. I can say all that and tell this part of the story and still tell you … it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Ponder said last week. “I was on that hamster wheel and I was not going to jump off on my own. I needed to get kicked off. As much as the part of the reasoning behind it is legit crazy, I feel no bitterness or even frankly sadness. I had a great career, I was 20 years in the business. I met some awesome people and there are still some really great people there. Never thought this would kind of be the way out but should have spoken up a long time before, I should have been a lot more courageous when I knew what was right.”
She spoke on the podcast of Sage Steele, who was removed from ESPN after remarks she made about COVID-19 vaccines. Steele sued the network and won a settlement. The list of targets includes the brilliant basketball analyst, Jeff Van Gundy, who was laid off after his frequent critiques of NBA game officials. It seems bizarre that Sharpe ever could return, considering he is 57 and met the woman in 2023 when she was 20. He let the attorney who was suing him, Tony Buzbee, make the announcement.
“Both sides acknowledge a long-term consensual and tumultuous relationship," said Buzbee, who represented women who filed suits against quarterback Deshaun Watson. “After protracted and respectful negotiations, I'm pleased to announce that we have reached a mutually agreed upon resolution. … All matters have now been addressed satisfactorily, and the matter is closed. The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”
Sharpe has continued to work on his podcasts, “Club Shay Shay” and “Nightcap.” Did the rape case bother listeners? Any attempt by Smith to reinstate him should be intercepted by Pitaro, who must rewind seriously with his lawyers and not be hypocritical and dumb. Some people say Sharpe is a goner at the Disney Company. Is he? Aren’t they underestimating the power of Stephen A., who makes $100 million for five years?
“I guess we probably all know at this point that Shannon Sharpe is not likely to ever work at ESPN again, right?” Dan Le Batard said on his podcast. “I think we can assume, we can reasonably assume that Shannon Sharpe would like it to look like he has a chance to return, but I don’t know if you can be Disney and allow any of what happened there.”
Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis, said the accuser was offered “at least $10 million” by Sharpe in the past. Davis is on record with support: “Mr. Sharpe categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct — especially the gross lie of ‘rape’ — and will not submit to what he sees as an egregious attempt at blackmail. He stands firmly by the truth.”
Those words allow Sharpe to think he’ll return for the NFL season.
Pitaro is being watched.
Very closely.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.