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Super Bowl champion and popular podcast host Shannon Sharpe is facing a sexual assault lawsuit in Nevada. The lawsuit alleges that Sharpe used his fame to manipulate, control, subjugate and violate women.
The accuser, who was 19 at the time she met Mr Sharpe in 2023, says in a legal filing that the pair had a nearly two-year relationship, during which time Mr Sharpe was aggressive and allegedly raped her. Mr Sharpe has denied the allegations and said he is the target of a shakedown. The suit seeks more than $50 million (£37.6 million) in compensatory and punitive damages.
The accuser is the only person suing, and she does not provide details on her accusation that Mr Sharpe hurt more than herself. According to the suit, the woman met Mr Sharpe, currently aged 56, in a Los Angeles gym and had a rocky consensual relationship.
After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of no. the complaint alleges.
The woman alleges that Mr Sharpe raped her as recently as January. In addition, she alleges in the suit that Mr Sharpe insisted on recording some of the sexual encounters, sometimes without her consent or knowledge, and shared the videos with his friends and associates.
Mr Sharpe has 4 million subscribers to his Club Shay Shay podcast, and is reportedly in negotiations on a $100m deal for his network of shows. This is a shakedown, he said in a video posted to Instagram late Tuesday, addressing the lawsuit. I'm going to be open, transparent and defend myself, because this isn't right.
