Shannon Sharpe’s ESPN future REVEALED after streaming himself having sex live in Instagram video
Shannon Sharpe will return to ESPN’s First Take next week after fans feared he would be fired for accidentally streaming himself having sex on Instagram.
The analyst admitted Wednesday night that he was in the video — after initially saying he had been hacked — and that it was accidentally streamed to his 3.2 million followers. He said he had spoken to his bosses at ESPN to apologize.
He was absent from Thursday’s show, which was hosted by Stephen A. Smith and featured Dan Orlovsky, in what was reportedly a planned day off. He is expected to return to ESPN on Monday, in line with his usual schedule.
ESPN fired analyst Paul Pierce in 2021, shortly after he went live on Instagram with strippers during a poker game.
That left viewers fearing there was more to Sharpe’s absence from Thursday’s show, with many calling for him to return to the studio on social media.
Shannon Sharpe is expected to return to ESPN on Monday for next week’s First Take
“Man, if Shannon Sharpe does First Take really well, I won’t be watching anymore,” said one fan on X.
Another viewer feared the worst, saying: “It’s going to be a while before we see Shannon Sharpe in the first shot again, huh?”
Another fan wrote: ‘Where is Shannon Sharpe today on First Take???’.
After initially claiming he had been hacked, Sharpe acknowledged that he had been hacked on the livestream of Wednesday night’s edition of his “Night Cap” podcast.
“Of course I’m embarrassed. Someone who is extremely, extremely private and one of your most intimate details – the audio – gets out there for the whole world to hear, I’m embarrassed for a number of reasons,” Sharpe said.
‘There are a lot of people who rely on Shannon to always be professional, and I always try to be professional, even behind closed doors.
‘I threw my phone on the bed, did something. I didn’t know about IG live. I’ve never turned on IG live, so I don’t know how it works and all of a sudden my other phone went off.
“My phone wasn’t hacked. It wasn’t a prank, it was because I was a healthy, active man.”