In the wake of news of a $50 million lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe in which he’s accused of sexual assault and battery, followed by a response from the Club Shay Shay host's legal team denying the allegations and pointing to alleged text exchanges with the accuser, TMZ has released alleged audio of a voice claimed to be Sharpe’s telling the accuser he will “choke” her.
“I don’t know. Anything I say you’re just gonna, like, get mad at me and you’re just gonna hang up on me,” a woman’s voice is heard saying in the clip.
Then, a voice alleged to be Sharpe’s is heard responding, saying “I’m not going to hang up on you. It is what it is.”
Deeper into the clip, the exact context or origin of which has not been made clear, the voice alleged to be Sharpe’s tells the woman she’s being “a dick to me now,” prompting the woman to say, “don’t manipulate me.”
The male voice responds, saying: “Oh, lord have mercy. If you say that word one more time, I’m gonna fucking choke the shit out of you when I see you.”
After a lengthy pause, though it wasn’t immediately clear whether the audio had been edited (TMZ said this isn’t “the entire audio”) the woman’s voice adds, “I don’t wanna be choked,” while the male voice responds with “Yes you do. I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.”
According to TMZ, the audio was sent to them by Tony Buzbee, an attorney representing the Jane Doe in question. Buzbee, as previously reported, has become a bit of a headlines mainstay in recent months, with Jay-Z, notably, accusing him of defamation in connection with a since-dismissed claim.
In comments included in Tuesday’s report, Buzbee argues that the alleged audio is “certainly not sexual” in nature, adding that its release was spurred by those aforementioned alleged texts being made public by Sharpe’s legal team.
Lanny J. Davis, counsel to Sharpe, has called the lawsuit “a blatant and cynical attempt to shake down” their client.
In a video released Tuesday, Sharpe himself addressed the lawsuit, echoing his lawyer’s characterization of this as a “shakedown.” He also vowed to be “open” and “transparent” while defending himself against these claims.