Stephen A. Smith eagerly awaiting Shannon Sharpes ESPN return as rape lawsuit swirls

Less than two weeks after Shannon Sharpe stepped away from ESPN over rape accusations, Stephen A.Smith is already wishing for his return.“He is emphatic that he is innocent of those things,” Smith said this week on Big Boy TV.

“But the court of public opinion is what the Disneys of the world and others concern themselves with.That’s a more immediate issue.“And unfortunately, that has worked against him at this particular moment in time.

So, I’m hopeful this will all go away.I’m hopeful that I’ll have my brother back on the airwaves talking football next season.”Sharpe, 56, has denied to allegations multiple times and called the $50 million civil suit, filed by a Jane Doe on Apr.

20 in Las Vegas, a “shakedown.”Sharpe’s legal team released hundreds of pages of texts messages between him and his accuser, with Sharpe’s attorney Lanny J.Davis alleging they “clearly indicate the nature of their relationship was consensual and sexual in nature — and, in many cases, initiated by her with specific and graphic requests.” Doe, whose name Sharpe shared on social media, and her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, released an audio clip on April 23 in which a male, purported to be Sharpe, threatens to choke her in public.The Pro Football Hall of Famer announced he’d be taking time off from his on-air sparring role with Smith on ESPN’s “First Take” on April 24.“I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me,” he said in a statement.“I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason.”Smith, also the show’s executive producer, previously addressed his co-host’s legal issues on his titular podcast.“I recruited Shannon… but I’m not the boss,” Smith said on April 23, referring to when Sharpe left Fox for ESPN in June 2023.

“Those are other folks.There are layers to this and there are certain layers that even I am not on.

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