Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.
Stephen A. humorously reacts to his ESPN colleague, Shannon Sharpe’s viral Instagram live sex broadcast.
Shannon Shop.
That's where I'm going to start today, because he was trending all over the damn place this week for a pretty interesting reason. Now, A uh, I was minding my own business when my phone started blowing up and I was getting text all over the place, text messages all over the place.
Everybody call it. You see what's happening, You see what's happening.
I ain't know what the hell was going on about Shannon Shop until I saw what I saw, and shall I say, a certain video of.
Him a.
Doing some things, doing some things. Okay, let me just say he may want to change the name of his show from Club Sha Shah to a Club Son. Now, I don't know where to go with this. Here's the deal, because obviously I've spoken to him. He is my colleague on first take, somebody that I brought over to the show last year who's done a phenomenal job since he's arrived, and I'm incredibly appreciative of not just the partnership that we've developed, with the friendship as well. And he called me about what happened, let me know what was transpiring, and was letting me know that he was gonna let the world know what transpired as well. Channon Shaw was having sex. It's what he was doing. Okay, he's getting it in. It's just that it wasn't for everybody to know. And evidently, you know, he was on Instagram live and didn't know. And as a result, although no video was seen, thank the good Lord, we heard quite a bit. We heard quite a bit, and so initially he thought his stuff was hacked. And then obviously he came out and and and and told what transpired.
And that was that. And from that point forward, you've had people speculating.
As to whether or not he was gonna get fired, was he going to get suspended, et cetera, et cetera. Again, he works on first take. I'm the executive producer first take, so if something was gonna happen to him with regards to ESPN, I'd be one of the first to know. I was on the phone with the bosses yesterday and and uh, you know, nothing's gonna happen.
To be honest with you, because nothing should happen.
Let me be the first to say that Shannon Shaw committed no crime. Uh, it wasn't some sex tape that he meant for everybody to hear. That's not how he rose. I've gotten to know him personally, that's not how that's not who he is. That's not how he rose. Okay, so let me get that out the way first. And if something had happened where he was gonna be in a world of trouble, I would have fought like hell to make sure or nothing came of it, because again, there's no video, and he was living his private life, and it was a mistake. And if you know anything about Shannon or trust me and believe it was a mistake because not only is he incredibly private, he's incredibly clueless when it comes to using social media. He has a team that does that for him. That's not what Shannon Sharp does. Shannon shap will tell you what he wants to eat it, he will tell you what he wants to post it on ig He will tell you what he wants on Facebook or something like that. But he damn sure ain't doing it himself. That's not what he does. He's not technologically astute in that way.
A lot of people aren't. He's one of those people. Okay. I know his team, I know him personally.
I've seen him all the time because when he shows up the first take.
They are with him.
When he goes anywhere, they are with him. There's a cadre of people that show up with him when he shows up the games and stuff like that.
They are with him. He ain't rolling by himself. They come with him.
He's got a social media person, he's got a photographer, he's got a photographer, he got all of that. He don't mind people filming him and tweeting for him and you know, constantly being a conspicuous presence on social media.
He likes that stuff.
He's not like me in that regard. We're both very very private. But I don't have a desire to have all of that around me.
He loves it.
Okay, he didn't, you know. But they're professionals that handle his business. But they ain't gonna be there when he getting down. He ain't gonna have him in the room when he getting down. Now, he gonna do that in private, okay, And I assure.
You I'm here. I'm telling you right now. I wasn't there obviously.
But based on the Shannon shock that I know, I can promise you. When that brother says he didn't know he was on IG Live, he didn't know, because it's very little he knows about social media. He knows what he says because he's instructed his team to post what he said, but in terms of technologically implementing something himself or no, no, no, no, no no no no, that's not Shannon, that's not Shannon. So make no mistake. He was telling the whole truth. I want to get to a bigger portion of this story that I wanted to say, the nerve of people out there that were trying to act like he did that wrong. Two consenting adults were getting it in yesterday morning.
What's the problem. What's the problem.
I could have believed when people were trying to act like yo, he is like he did everyone. They're trying to say sex tape, sex tape. Nah, no, you didn't see it. If you didn't see it, he didn't see it, and accidents happened. He says he was embarrassed. I saw him on Nightcap last night with o Jo Sinko. He says he was embarrassed. I believe him because he don't want people in this business.
Number one.
Number two, he don't want people trying to figure out who he was with and bothering that person, that's true.
Number three, Shannon Sharp is a big.
Time family man. In terms of Sterling Sharp, his brother, former NFL wide receiver who by the way, was the second best receiver in the world next to Jerry Rice when he was playing in Green Bay having passed his thrown to him by Brett Faull.
If y'all don't know do your damn homework, Sterling Sharp was that dude.
And obviously Shannon with his sister and his family unit, his daughter's stuff like that, he ain't trying to be all over.
The media for that.
That is one thing to talk about stuff and be flirtatious and talk about what you're gonna do like he's done on Nightcap and stuff like that when they brought up making the stallion and other people's all that things to just talk. But in terms of actually hearing and seeing him in action now, he ain't about that life. That's not what he wants to do. And so for me personally, I'm just looking at people now, I'm like, why y'all tripping while everybody acting like you know he he did something wrong.
I'm not saying it.
Was right to be to get caught on audio getting it getting it in like that, but because it's none of anybody's business. But if it was an accident, it was an accident. Anybody, any verges out there, raise your hand. Any folks rolling around celibate out there, raise your hand. Everybody that ain't getting it in from time to time, if not more than time to time, raise your hand, raise your hand. All these people looking to find some kind of criticism, I don't know what you can criticize. Now, let me say this to Shannon Shaw, because it's very important that I say this.
Thank god.
You were handling your business, cause you know it had been bad. Right if it was on audio and you were being insulted, you know that would have been bad, Shay Shane, it would have been bad.
You know, the whole crew would have been I mean not on camera, but off camera.
We'd all been laughing at you. You know that, right, you know that right? So sucess, So thank god that wasn't what was going on.
Okay. And then he said, you know it was you know chad O Josinko alluded to it.
He said, Kat Williams said called him and said to him, quote, you ain't gay today, cause you know those rumors that they tried to put out there about Shannon Shump, which to my knowledge, First of all, I don't care if he is or is it is none of my business. But I can assure you I've never seen any evidence of that anytime over the years i've seen Shannon Sharp.
He's been with a dying piece. That means somebody that looks very very good, Okay, a female that looks very very good.
That's what I'm accustomed to seeing him around. That's what I'm accustomed to seeing that brother a ram So I never bought into those rumors. Not that I care because I'm liberal on the social side. I'm fiscally conservative. But when it comes to your private life and how you live your life, that's your business. Gay trans by, you know, heterosexual, homosexual is none of my damn business. Okay, I got the kind of life I like to leave, which is that of a heterosexual. Anybody that wants to live differently, that's your business. I could care less.
But if you a man who is.
A proud heterosexual, you don't enjoy people saying that you're gay, which is what they were saying about Shannon Sharp. When Shannon Sharp has openly admitted he found offensive. So all of those rumors, we hope will be put to bed and everybody move on with their damn life. But in the end, I just thought it was important to point this out. So long as it was an accident. The man did absolutely nothing wrong. So people blowing up my phone asking me, is he gonna get fired and all of this other stuff. No, I spoke to the hanchos. He ain't getting fired. It ain't going down like that. That's not gonna happen. He's gonna be here. He's gonna be right on First Take Monday and Tuesday. He's gonna be right with me next Friday in Washington, d C. When First Take rolls up on Howard University, he gonna be right there. Next month, when we go to Tennessee State, he's gonna be right there. After that, when we go down to Atlanta, Clark University in more House and all of that. Yeah, he gonna be there too, Okay, because.
He didn't do anything wrong. Mistakes happen, Accidents happen. It's just that simple. Let it go.
Let it be anybody who living on I understand living on it in the moment when the damn thing is trolling on ig lot.
I get that part, but now that it's.
Beyond us, anybody focusing on that making me wonder about what kind of life you got. He fifty six years old, as he said on his podcast, fifty six and still healthy enough to get it in. I appreciate that he ain't the only fifty six year old to know how to get it in and got the energy and the stamina and the physical wherewithal.
To get it in.
There's a whole There's a few folks out there that can do that too.
But leave that man alone.
Let him live his life, and don't be searching for what woman he was with or whatever the case may be. That's his business too. Last time I checked, he ain't married, so nobody can assume specifically who it is. If he was married, you said it was his wife. He's not married, so we don't know.
Why care. And by the way, for.
The woman who was with him and clearly intends on being with him again.
Ain't no shame you with your man doing what it is that you do that most of us do quite a bit. I'm just saying. I'm just saying