THE WORST NETWORK? ESPN’S SHARPE ACCUSED OF RAPE, FOX IS LOST IN MISOGYNY
The analyst is sued for $50 million, shortly after a magazine's lengthy story on sexual discrimination accusations at Fox Sports, which brings serious questions for bosses Jimmy Pitaro and Eric Shanks
It’s unfathomable to realize Eric Shanks grew up somewhere in Indiana, not far from Terre Haute, and does appearances as a member of the Future Farmers of America. He also happens to be the CEO and executive producer of Fox Sports. I’ve just read a lengthy article in New York Magazine and have a question for Shanks.
Does he run one of the sleaziest operations in American business, sitting atop a sick workplace, where sex has run amok in a misogynous environment and led to courtroom accusations of discrimination and groping by a major programming executive? Is he too busy with pigs and chickens to watch Charlie Dixon and Skip Bayless behind the scenes? Might he actually know what’s happening as he tends to his avocado farm in California?
Or might that man be Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, a New York Yankees fan who married an actress who appeared in “Top Gun: Maverick” as Val Kilmer’s wife? He should prepare notes and address how analyst Shannon Sharpe, who demands $100 million in his next media deal, has been accused of rape in a lawsuit. A woman seeks $50 million in assault and battery damages and has hired attorney Tony Buzbee — who represented female therapists who won settlements against Deshaun Watson — after Sharpe recently acknowledged having live sex on Instagram Live.
This comes after Stephen A. Smith, the personality who brought Sharpe to ESPN from Fox, announced he might run for President of the United States and appears to have lied repeatedly on “First Take” and his podcast. Monday, Pitaro had no problem letting Sharpe appear with Smith, who took his partner apart when the Knicks clobbered Detroit. At some point — today? — Pitaro can’t allow Buzbee to attack Sharpe about a relationship that lasted almost two years. He should not remain on camera. She was age 19 when they met at a gym in Los Angeles in 2023. Sharpe is 56 and apparently upset her with his live sex confession.
Jimmy?
“Sharpe flew into fits of anger when Plaintiff noted his infidelity to their relationship, or called him out about his extraneous activities,” the suit said. “What had once been manipulation, control, and intimidation now became something far more dangerous and sinister. Sharpe even figured out how to get into Doe’s apartment complex without her permission. Sharpe made it clear that what Doe wanted was of no moment, that Sharpe would get what he wanted, when he wanted it. In October 2024, Shannon Sharpe violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff two different times in Las Vegas, Nevada, blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop. He did it again in January.”
Said Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny Davis, who named the accuser: “(A) blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars. It is filled with lies, distortions, and misrepresentations— and it will not succeed. … 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.”
Pitaro should cut back on Yankee Stadium games and fix a network going nowhere. I’ve pointed out the gambling shambles and losses, on ESPN Bet, as it requires too much air time and occupies the attention of too many hosts. Now Sharpe wants the same pay as Smith, which would make them the highest-paid sportscasters of all time beyond Tom Brady. He makes $375 million in a 10-year contract at Fox.
And yet, the biggest story in Shanks’ kingdom is sportscaster Joy Taylor, who sat down with a magazine exploring whether she slept with Dixon, her boss, and Fox Sports 1 host Emmanuel Acho. As it is, Bayless has been accused of offering $1.5 million to have sex with a Fox hairstylist. No wonder Marcellus Wiley, a former FS1 host, said this of the mess: “Imagine if Charlie is allegedly sleeping with Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho is sleeping with Joy Taylor, and there’s somebody who’s not sleeping with Joy.”
Eric?
As executive vice president of content, Dixon remains on leave but has not been fired. Shanks fired Jamie Horowitz in 2017 as a top executive — “force of personality,” he said — but Dixon still stays? “Charlie Dixon sucks. On the record,” said host Katie Nolan, who worked at Fox and ESPN, where she was signed to a whopper contract by a president, John Skipper, who was busted for cocaine. Bayless is long gone as a Fox host but still does a podcast with his wife, which is disgusting.
Whose shop is worse? The wrestling promoter, Paul Heyman, appeared Monday on Pat McAfee’s program and said, “CM Punk does as much good to my reputation as Shannon Sharpe does to ESPN’s.” This comes after Sharpe came clean about live sex.
“Obviously, I am embarrassed. Someone that is extremely, extremely private and to have one of your most intimate details — the audio — heard for the entire world to hear, I’m embarrassed for a number of reasons,” Sharpe said. “There are a lot of people that count on Shannon to be professional at all times and I always try to be professional at all times, even when I’m behind closed doors. … I’m very disappointed in myself, not for the act. I think there are billions of people of consenting age that engage in activities, but for the audio to be heard, I’m disappointed in myself. I let a lot of people down.”
That was mistake No. 1. Pitaro let Sharpe off the hook.
Now he is accused of rape. Of course, we’ll see him this week on “First Take,” where the chairman has no control and might be aiding and abetting. Flip a coin between Pitaro and Shanks.
Both should resign.
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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.