UPDATED — 5:03 PM 04/25/2025
Shannon Sharpe’s attorney is firing back at what he calls “malicious lies” and a clear attempt to extort the former NFL star and media personality. In a fiery statement sent to NewsOne, Sharpe’s legal counsel, Mitchell Schuster, dismissed recent allegations made against his client as “completely devoid of merit” and accused individuals of attempting to profit off Sharpe’s name and reputation.
“It should be of no surprise that when someone famous is in the news, all sorts of people crawl out of the woodwork to share their connection to that person in an attempt to profit from that alleged relationship,” Schuster said. “In many cases, those stories or accusations are nothing more than old news, fanciful exaggerations, or sometimes blatant misrepresentations of fact.”
Schuster then called out Sharpe’s accusers Michele Evans and Gabi Zuniga by name. He described Evans as someone who “became obsessed with Shannon and decided to manufacture a claim against him.” After failing to secure legal representation for what Schuster called an “outrageous story,” she filed a civil complaint on her own.
“The fact is that Shannon has had no contact with this person for many years,” he said, also claiming Evans “served 3 years in prison for trying to kill her husband so that she could hopefully pursue a relationship with Shannon.”
Turning to Zuniga, Schuster doubled down on his claim that she engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with Sharpe over two years and attempted to extort him after learning he would not father a child with her.
“This is a shakedown, pure and simple, and we have the evidence to prove it,” said Schuster. “While Shannon was willing to pay her a substantial amount of money to avoid the intimate details of his personal life from being exposed, as many high-profile individuals often do when they are being threatened, that is no longer the case.”
Schuster made it clear that Sharpe intends to fight back and said that the “opportunist” women’s accusations distract from “real” survivors of abuse.
Finally, addressing Sharpe’s status with ESPN, Schuster said the Hall of Famer was not fired.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, Shannon Sharpe was not terminated by ESPN,” he said. “He has elected to step away for a temporary period of time from his duties so that he can focus on his family and the frivolous claim filed against him. ESPN agreed with his decision, and Shannon plans to return to his role at ESPN for the NFL season.”
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Shannon Sharpe is being accused of raping another woman in a second lawsuit.
Shortly following a $50 million lawsuit filed against the media personality, another woman has come forward to assert similar claims of rape and intimidation. Michele Bundy Evans, who says she dated Sharpe for nearly a decade, filed a lawsuit against him in late 2023 for defamation, libel, and slander after previously accusing him of sexual assault.
In court documents obtained by Page Six, Evans claimed the podcast host assaulted her in 2010 after they got into an argument about his alleged infidelity. She alleges that Sharpe “proceeded to forcefully subdue [her], compelling [her] to [her] knees and subsequently engaging in non-consensual oral penetration.”
The complaint goes on to say that Shannon “maneuvered” her “onto the bed and achieved non-consensual vaginal penetration, all the while proclaiming his intent to ‘make it so no other man would want [her].’” He then “threatened” to “ruin” her reputation if she decided to share the details of the incident, she claims.
“He levied threats of ruin, declaring that any attempt on my part to disclose his transgressions would be met with a comprehensive campaign to ‘use everyone I know to destroy you,’” the lawsuit alleged. Evans also said Sharpe made public remarks about their legal feud on his various platforms, which negatively affected her reputation.
Following the 2010 incident, Evans placed a restraining order against Sharpe, but she later dropped it out of fear for herself and her child. She spoke to the US Sun about dropping the restraining order in an interview published on Thursday.
“After I filed the restraining order, I was sitting in my apartment with my daughter,” Evans explained. “I had a basement floor apartment with a door leading out to the sidewalk, so I was right there, vulnerable, and somebody came up to my door and said, ‘Shut up f***ing b**ch,’ and I ran and dropped it right then, because I had a child at home with me at the time, and having someone coming to my door with her there you know that? No, no, no, no.”
A spokesperson for Sharpe has denied Evans’ allegations, according to Page Six, insisting: “Michele Evans’ claims are ridiculous and completely without merit…Shannon has had no contact with her for many years.”
This comes as the former NFL player is facing a separate $50 million lawsuit for rape and battery from a woman identified as Jane Doe. In her complaint, she claims Sharpe sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions throughout their two-year relationship. Shannon has also denied those allegations, calling the lawsuit a “shakedown.”
