Stephen A. Smith thinks that Shannon Sharpe leaking texts from the woman who accused him of sexual assault was “uncomfortable.”
Smith shared his thoughts on the media personality’s decision to disclose the texts during a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show dedicated to Sharpe’s situation. "They revealed some of those explicit text messages. That was uncomfortable," Smith said of the transcript that Sharpe put out via his legal team which showed some of the alleged text messages between him and the Jane Doe who accused him of assault. "I don't know if that's a strategy that would work."
He added: "One of the hardest things in the world for all of us to do is to just lay low and be quiet and let our legal team do it."
Later on in the episode, Smith said that Sharpe has relayed his innocence to him during a conversation between the two media personalities. “I can tell you all that I spoke to Shanon and he emphatically proclaims his innocence,” explained Smith.
After being hit with a $50 million lawsuit in which he’s accused of sexual assault and battery, Sharpe released a statement through his lawyer Lanny J. Davis that included a series of sexually explicit texts that the NFL Hall of Famer allegedly received from his accuser. Davis also accused the Jane Doe’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of orchestrating a “blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars."
Sharpe also released a video statement about the lawsuit after it was released, mentioning that Buzbee was the same lawyer who Jay-Z has accused of defamation.
“I’m gonna be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn’t right,” Sharpe said. “This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z. Tony Buzbee targets Black men and I believe he is going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and plays into every stereotype you could possibly imagine.”
“You know what happened but you’re trying to manipulate the media,” Sharpe added. “The encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation, and now that appears to be a deliberate setup coordinated by Gabby, also known as Carly on OnlyFans. Gabby and Tony Buzbee want $50 million. What they’re getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down.”
