A pair of ex-ESPN employees were angry at the network’s handling of Shannon Sharpe after he remained on the air amid a $50million rape lawsuit.
The 56-year-old Sharpe has been accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend who, according to the lawsuit, was 19 when she first met the analyst and three-time Super Bowl winner.
Sharpe has denied the allegations and appeared on ‘First Take’ on Tuesday per usual before missing the show on Wednesday for what ESPN has said was a scheduled day off. He was set to appear on ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage but announced on Thursday that he was temporarily stepping away from the network, saying he planned to return for the start of the NFL preseason.
Nonetheless, after audio emerged of Sharpe threatening to ‘choke the s***’ out of the woman, former ‘SportsCenter’ anchors Sage Steele and Ashley Brewer-Kaminsky have lashed out at their former employer.
Steele, who worked as a surrogate for Donald Trump in the last election, accused the company of an anti-conservative bias.
‘There’s a long list of examples where ESPN/Disney considers having conservative viewpoints a much greater offense than questionable character,’ she wrote on X.
Shannon Sharpe has been accused of rape as a Jane Doe seeks $50million in a lawsuit
Ex-ESPN anchors Sage Steele (left) and Ashley Brewer-Kaminsky railed against the company
Steele’s post came in response to a post which read: ‘ESPN did not re-up contracts to women with conservative views or silenced them while Shannon has had multiple questionable actions involving women. Just putting that out there.’
Brewer-Kaminsky also chimed in and replied to Steele, saying that she was ‘chewed out’ for posting a picture with a Republican congressman at a Conor McGregor fight to her Instagram story.
Steele then replied that the pair was also ‘chewed out’ for standing too close to each other for a photo during Covid.
‘But sitting next to each other at the desk live on TV was totally fine!!!,’ Brewer-Kaminsky sarcastically responded.
Another ex-ESPNer, Sean Salisbury, also responded with several laughing-crying emojis.
The company has previously instructed employees to avoid discussing politics on air, though some – including Steele – have suggested that the rule only applied to conservative-leaning opinions.
She ultimately left ESPN in 2023, two years after she was suspended for criticizing the company’s Covid vaccine mandate.
Steele, seen last October, has been outspoken about her conservative views and was a surrogate for Donald Trump in his second re-election attempt
Steele later brought a lawsuit to ESPN following that incident, which was settled by both sides before she left the company.
Brewer also lost her job as an anchor in 2023.
This week, Sharpe’s lawyer said he tried to settle with the woman for around $10m. ESPN has not commented regarding the situation.
A trove of texts released by Sharpe’s lawyer also shows one exchange between him and his accuser in which she says ‘no means no’ after an alleged encounter.
Sharpe did not comment on the allegations while on ESPN, though he called the lawsuit a ‘shakedown’ in a video posted to his Instagram, and said the accuser’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, ‘targets black men.’
Buzbee previously represented the women who settled sexual misconduct lawsuits against NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson, and the woman who dropped her sexual assault accusations against Jay-Z.
A report from OutKick published prior to Sharpe’s announcement on Thursday said that his future in ESPN was in question.
