Stephen A. Smith is weighing in on the explosive rape and sexual assault lawsuit filed by an anonymous woman against Shannon Sharpe.
The ESPN personality addressed the situation on his eponymous podcast. While referring to Sharpe as his colleague and "my friend," Smith also called it all a "sad situation." He recapped the timeline, including the allegations made by the Jane Doe in the 19-page, $50 million lawsuit. He also addressed Sharpe's response to the lawsuit, from the video he released yesterday to his legal team releasing a myriad of explicit text messages Sharpe and the accuser have exchanged over the course of the relationship.
While Smith said he's "sincerely hopeful and prayerful that he's innocent," he also took issue with Sharpe's legal team releasing the text message thread.
"They mentioned her name and they revealed some of those explicit text messages," he said. "That was uncomfortable. And I don't know if that's a strategy that would work."
Smith also opened up about how ESPN brass is handling the situation.
"To be clear, even though this podcast is owned and operated by me solely, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be dismissive of ESPN, who employs me in my daytime job on First Take. So I sit here before you today letting you know that they are aware," Smith said. "That this is a subject I was going to broach because I owe them that courtesy ... So, where does that leave us? I'd love to tell you that I know the answer to that question, but I don't. I am the executive producer of First Take on ESPN ... but I'm not the boss. Those are other folks. There are layers to this, and there are certain layers that even I am not on."
Related: Shannon Sharpe Breaks Silence on Sexual Abuse Lawsuit
He continued, "I can tell you I also spoke to co-chairman of Disney, the boss, Jimmy Pitaro, who made it very, very clear that we are taking this matter very seriously. And we are looking into this very, very closely. And once we gather as many facts as we possibly can, we will go from there. And that is all he said. And I can mention his name because I received his permission to say that. I don't know what that means. In my perfect world, this equates to Jay-Z, where the case is ultimately dropped and Shannon is allowed to continue on Firs Take and continue to thrive and shine."
ESPN has not publicly weighed in on the lawsuit.
Sharpe has vehemently denied that he sexually assaulted and rape the accuser. He vows to proof his innocence and file a defamation lawsuit. Sharpe is adamant that the lawsuit is nothing more than "a shakedown."
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/6riLyKb
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