ESPN fully parts ways with Shannon Sharpe after legal settlement

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After months in limbo, Shannon Sharpe’s time as ESPN is fully over. The news comes after the former football player and host of First Take settled a $50 million rape lawsuit brought by a Jane Doe in April. On Friday, July 18, the accuser’s lawyer Tony Buzbee shared that “we have reached a mutually agreed upon resolution” in a statement posted to Instagram. Buzbee did not share a dollar amount, but wrote that “The lawsuit will thus be dismissed with prejudice.”

The Athletic first reported the news this afternoon that Sharpe would not be returning to ESPN. When Sharpe first stepped down from his hosting role at First Take in April, he suggested it would be temporary and that he would be back in time to cover NFL training camp, which began around the middle of July. Sharpe also characterized the allegations as “false and disruptive” in a statement to The A.V. Club at the time; however, his claim that he was on the verge of settling the lawsuit for $10 million before it was made public caused legal experts at the time to doubt that the allegations were totally meritless. That same day, People obtained audio apparently of Sharpe threatening to choke his accuser.

ESPN fully parts ways with Shannon Sharpe after legal settlement

Sharpe was benched from his hosting gig at First Take in April.