ESPN Host Shannon Sharpe Is Facing a Major Scandal, but Has It Cost Him His Job?

For more than a decade, former NFL player Shannon Sharpe has been a sports commentator for various networks. The host is currently working for ESPN, but some want to know whether he was fired from the network after an explicit video of him popped up on his own Instagram account.

Shannon is doing damage control following the video's release, and some believe that it might be enough reason for ESPN to fire the host. Here's what we know about the status of Shannon's employment following the scandal.

Shannon Sharpe has not been fired from ESPN, at least not yet, but the sports commentator is doing damage control in part because he likely doesn't want to lose that contract.

The entire controversy stems from a video that was originally posted on Shannon's Instagram Live in which you could hear Shannon making noises that might indicate that he was having sex. Soon after, a message appeared on his Instagram Stories claiming that his account had been hacked.

That second claim turned out not to be true, and as Shannon explained it, the entire incident happened as a kind of butt dial.

“I’m disappointed in myself. I let a lot of people down,” Shannon said on his podcast Nightcap. “This was not staged. I came in, I threw my phone on the bed, engaged in an activity. I did not know IG Live. I’ve never been on IG Live. I’ve never turned IG Live on, so I don’t know how it works.”

Shannon also said that it was a staffer named Jordan who had claimed his account was hacked, and that that claim is not true. During the podcast, Shannon made some effort to act like the video was not a big deal, although videos of it were already circulating across the internet because it had been screen-recorded. Shannon also said that he spoke with his representation, his bosses, and his family following the miscue, and reiterated that he was ashamed.

“I’m embarrassed. Someone that is extremely, extremely private. And to have one of your most intimate details, the audio heard for the entire world to hear,” he said. “People count on Shannon, there are a lot of people who count on Shannon to be professional at all times.”

Although Shannon's flub was embarrassing, it doesn't look like it's going to cost him his job unless he makes another mistake. It wasn't a leak of any kind, and there's not really anything to see in the video. It was just the kind of accident that can happen in a world where everyone is hooked up to social media at all times.

Shannon is embarrassed in the way that anyone would be in that kind of situation, but at least for the time being, it doesn't seem like he intentionally did anything wrong. People have certainly been fired for a lot less, but Shannon's job seems to be safe for now.