Shannon Sharpe thanked Chad Ochocinco for standing by his side while he dealt with his sexual assault lawsuit and subsequent settlement.
During an episode of his Nightcap podcast with Ochocinco, Sharpe gave his co-host flowers for loyalty.
“I appreciate you Ocho, because you texted me like ‘Unc, I’m with you. Whatever we gotta go through, we're going through it. You ain’t by yourself,’” he said.
Ochocinco responded with “‘Til the wheels fall off. You gave me an opportunity.”
Sharpe then revealed that, unlike Ochocinco, a lot of people seemingly distanced themselves from him while he was going through his legal situation. “There’s so many people that used to call, used to text me, and I haven’t heard from them since this happened,” said Sharpe.
“I don’t wish this on anybody, but what it did do was really show me who’s really there,” added Sharpe. “There are a lot of people who were on the periphery when things were going well, and were at the apex.”
Sharpe brought up his relationship with Stephen A. Smith. “He’s been great,” he said. “He was calling, saying, ‘Anything I can do? What can I do?”
Sharpe has been very candid about how his life has changed since he settled his $50 million sexual assault lawsuit and was fired by ESPN.
In an earlier episode of Nightcap, in which he was speaking with Ochocinco about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ stubborn approach to paying people on time, Sharpe made a joke about Ochocinco being similar in that regard.
"I'll pay you when I get ready," Sharpe said, mimicking Jones, before addressing Ocho. "Like you do me. Like you owe me [$]5,900. You basically told me, 'I'mma pay you when I get ready.'"
“I ain’t say that,” snapped Ochocinco, before Sharpe responded with, “No, your actions did.”
Sharpe revealed that Ochocinco’s debt was “coming up on a year” and that there’s a “penalty for being late.” Afterward, he joked that his pockets were “light right now,” suggesting that it was because of the settlement.