Shannon Sharpe reveals weakening grip of #MeToo, – Latest News
Shannon Sharpe has put one other nail within the believe-all-women mandate of the #MeToo period.
On Monday, the NFL great and media persona was accused of rape by an nameless ex-girlfriend. In a bombshell $50 million lawsuit, she described their relationship as “rocky consensual” and alleged that Sharpe had threatened to “brutally choke her and violently slap her.”
Not too long in the past, an accusation like that will have despatched a man into retreat or contrition mode.
But Sharpe didn’t problem a denial or apologize or crawl beneath a rock. Instead, he went scorched earth on his ex-paramour, who filed the lawsuit as Jane Doe.
Former NFL great and media persona Shannon Sharpe is preventing back towards allegations that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend. Getty Images for SiriusXM
His lawyer Lanny J. Davis, not solely publicly named the girl, he launched a trove of raunchy texts she had despatched Sharpe — requesting varied sorts of kinky and tough intercourse acts.
In a assertion, Davis mentioned the texts “clearly indicate the nature of their relationship was consensual and sexual in nature — and, in many cases, initiated by her with specific and graphic requests” that included “role-playing, sexual language and fantasy scenarios.”
None of us can actually know what occurred between the pair. Perhaps she’s a sufferer of violence. Maybe he’s a sufferer of vindictiveness. Maybe the messy reality is someplace in between.
Shannon Sharpe was on the verge of signing a lucreative podcast deal when he was sued by his ex-girlfriend. Getty Images for First Entertainment
But one factor is for certain: Sharpe isn’t rolling over. He’s getting down within the mud and preventing back. He even posted a video as we speak, explicitly calling the lawsuit a “shakedown” and saying he was going to sue the girl for defamation.
It’s additional proof that #MeToo has misplaced its death grip on our society.
The almighty motion — which despatched any and all accused males, regardless of the degree of transgression, to the profession electric chair and social purgatory — has been defanged.
And the fairer intercourse, as soon as unimpeachable beneath the “believe all women” motto, are no longer mechanically given the rubber stamp of absolute veracity.
Andrew Cuomo resigned as New York governor in 2021 after a slew of ladies mentioned he sexually harassed them. Now operating for mayor, he’s threatening to sue one of his accusers for defamation. James Keivom for New York Post
Among these refusing to retreat is former governor (now NYC’s mayoral frontrunner) Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after a slew of ladies mentioned he sexually harassed them. At the time, he gave an compulsory apology however mentioned “it was unintentional.”
But now, as he makes an attempt a return to public workplace, Cuomo is threatening to sue one of his accusers, Charlotte Bennett, for defamation.
After Jay-Z was accused in a lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old woman in 2000 — together with Sean Diddy Combs, who’s sitting in jail, going through intercourse trafficking fees — he wrote a blistering reply, calling it “extortion.” He filed a defamation go well with, detailing alleged inconsistencies, towards the now-adult girl. She subsequently withdrew her go well with.
Shannon Sharpe is airing his soiled laundry to struggle claims that he raped his ex-girlfriend. Getty Images
When the #MeToo motion took maintain in 2017, it was set off by many ladies alleging film mogul Harvey Weinstein had sexually assaulted them. (He was later convicted of rape and different intercourse crimes, which he has denied, in California and New York; the latter was overturned in 2024.) That case led to sweeping conversations about harassment within the office, sexual violence, energy dynamics and consent.
Suddenly, scores of high-powered males — from Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer to Al Franken and Louis CK— had been being known as out for dangerous conduct and despatched packing. (All 4 of these males apologized however both denied some of the accusations or mentioned they had been misconstrued.)
It grew to become a tsunami, sweeping up some stragglers within the quest to rid our society of poisonous masculinity. There was little to no nuance or distinction between boorish and felony.
Jay-Z was swept up within the Sean Diddy Combs intercourse trafficking case after he was accused of raping a girl in 2000 when she was 13. He filed a go well with for defamation and known as it “extortion.” Getty Images
At instances, allegations blurred the road between ladies being violated and feeling remorse — which did no favors for actual victims of assault and sexual violence.
That grew to become obvious in 2018 when actor Aziz Ansari was the goal. In a piece for babe.web, an nameless girl described a sexual encounter with him the place he “ignored clear nonverbal cues” from her.
So males now needed to be Kreskin — and skim minds.
Barstool Sports honcho Dave Portnoy fought back towards allegations of sexual misconduct that had been reported by Business Insider, unsuccessfully suing the publication for defamation. Getty Images
That nearly farcical account chipped away on the motion’s credibility and what progress that had been made within the identify of equality.
But many scared males nonetheless went quietly into the night time.
Then in late 2021, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was the subject of a Business Insider investigation that accused him of sexual misconduct and filming intimate acts with out his companions’ consent.
Portnoy punched back.
Aziz Ansari was known as out by girl who mentioned that he “ignored clear nonverbal cues” during a bodily encounter. Getty Images
“At no point was it not 100 percent consensual,” he mentioned. “If I committed the crimes I’ve been accused of I’d walk myself to jail,” he wrote on X.
He sued the publication for defamation, and although that lawsuit was tossed, it despatched a message that males had been keen to struggle for his or her fame.
Now, a growing quantity of media personalities, together with Candace Owens, are taking a contemporary have a look at the period. Joe Rogan just lately remembered that time as “a hot witch hunt.”
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala mentioned he hopes new attitudes surrouding #MeToo help Weinstein as his retrial begins in New York City. AP
And Weinstein, who’s now going through a retrial in New York City for that overturned rape conviction, is hoping the shifting consensus round #MeToo will help him.
His lawyer Arthur Aidala instructed The Hollywood Reporter that “people are realizing that the phrase ‘believe women’ is an anti-American and anti-ends-of-justice idiotic statement” — including, “We shouldn’t believe everybody.”
On Tuesday afternoon, lawyer Davis admitted that Sharpe was going to pay his ex, who’s an OnlyFans creator, $10 million for her silence earlier than she filed her lawsuit — sustaining that the accuser was blackmailing Sharpe, who was about to signal a “very lucrative” contract for his podcast “Club Shay Shay.”
It’s all so sordid. But Sharpe’s willingness to air his soiled laundry to publicly struggle exhibits simply how far the pendulum has swung now.
For higher or for worse.
