Stephen A. Smith says he is ‘rooting for’ Shannon Sharpe after rape allegations, ‘I’m wishing that he’s innocent’

“Shannon Sharpe is somebody I work with a couple of days a week. Shannon Sharpe is somebody I brought to ESPN … We’ve grown close as friends … I certainly root for him,” Smith said.

Sharpe has denied the allegations after facing a $50 million lawsuit. The rape accuser, referred to as a Jane Joe in legal docs, recently released an alleged audio when Sharpe can be heard threatening to “choke” her.

‘I know that I’m wishing that he’s innocent’

Smith, who has worked with Sharpe on First Take since September 2023, explained that he couldn’t “speak to his innocence or guilt from a knowledgeable place.” “Even though I got love and respect for Shannon Sharpe, and I’m sincerely hopeful and prayerful that he is completely innocent of the allegations that have been levied against him,” he added.

Smith confessed that he was “a bit torn” on Sharpe’s response, and gave credence to Sharpe’s argument that the plaintiff’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, “targets black men.” He later went on to question how the situation was handled by Sharpe since news of the lawsuit broke.

“On one hand, going on the offensive to defend himself, I completely understand where Shannon Sharpe is coming from,” Smith said. “On the other hand, when his legal team issued out the press release on X yesterday and they spoke about (her), they mentioned her name, and they revealed some of those explicit text messages. That was uncomfortable. And I don’t know if that’s a strategy that will work.”

Smith said that he spoke to Sharpe after the allegations surfaced, who “emphatically” denied claims. “In my perfect world, [Sharpe] moves on and somehow, some way, we find this all to be false,” Smith said. “But it doesn’t seem like that’s the way things are about to go down, considering how Mr. Buzbee is and how emphatic his client is proclaiming that she is right and she is telling the truth. I don’t know where this is going to go. I can’t speak to anything else.”

“I don’t know what’s happened. I know I got love for the brother,” Smith continued. “I know that I’m wishing that he’s innocent and all of this stuff goes away and he can continue to thrive with me on ESPN and thrive in his own platforms that he worked so diligently over the years to build. But anything else would be entirely irresponsible for me to speak on and I can’t do that. Yes I own this, this is my platform. But I also have a day job and I also understand what lawyers, what HR, and all those other things entail.:

“I have no idea what direction ESPN will go in when it comes to this matter,” he added. “All I do know is it won’t be me making the decision. It will be others upstairs. In the end, all of us have someone to answer to. No matter how maverick we try to be.”