Shannon Sharpe is weighing in on Adin Ross' latest controversy after the streamer admitted on a livestream that he uses the N-word when rapping along to hip-hop songs.
The comments sparked immediate backlash online, and Sharpe didn't hold back his thoughts on a new episode of Nightcap with Chad "OchoCinco" Johnson.
Sharpe recalled how Ross told his viewers, "I'm not going to lie to you guys… whenever I listen to rap music there are times I say it … I'm not saying it on the stream, but I have rapped songs before saying the N-word."
Ross doubled down by suggesting "pretty much everyone" who's not Black says the word privately while listening to music. Sharpe, however, pushed back forcefully, not just at Ross's admission but at his decision to publicize it.
Sharpe began by acknowledging the reality many people point to: "I'm sure there are a lot of other people of the opposite race that says that word when they're rapping songs… absolutely."
But Sharpe stressed, that doesn't make it acceptable, especially not outside one's home.
Sharpe noted that Ross might get "fire slapped" if he used the word on the street, and while people may privately say things they shouldn't, Ross choosing to broadcast that fact makes no sense.
"Why does he feel the need to share that?" Sharpe asked. "OK, you do that in the privacy of your own home. Why do you feel the need to share that?"
Ocho then explained exactly why Ross would go public with something guaranteed to stir outrage.
"He's a content creator," the former athlete said. "That's the whole point of what they do. They create content, they create controversy, they create turmoil … and here we are talking about it."
Sharpe also pointed out the hypocrisy he sees in people like Ross openly using slurs that target Black people while avoiding others considered offensive to different groups.
"They got no problem saying those words that are offensive to Black people," said Sharpe. "But there are some other words that's offensive to other people. They never utter those. You notice that, don't you?"
When Ocho asked what "other community" Sharpe meant, the conversation drifted toward coded language about the LGBTQ community and then toward another unnamed group.
fWhen asked why Ross doesn't rap slurs about that group, Sharpe responded: "He want to create content? Create some content. But they leave that alone, that's all I'm saying [...] People ain't got no problem saying that word, but they won't touch anything else."