Shannon Sharpe came clean in a sexy Instagram Live post she posted Wednesday afternoon, sharing live audio of herself engaging in sex acts with a woman to her roughly 3.2 million followers.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer and ESPN personality confirmed that his Instagram account was not hacked and that he had in fact accidentally streamed a video of him and a woman engaging in a sex act to his millions of followers.
“Of course I'm embarrassed. I'm an extremely private person, so to have some of my most private information being shared with the whole world is embarrassing in a lot of ways,” Sharp initially sounded contrite during an emergency broadcast on “Nightcap.”
“There are a lot of people who expect Shannon to be professional at all times, and I strive to be professional at all times, even behind closed doors. … I'm very disappointed in myself, not in the conduct, but in the fact that there are millions, maybe billions, of people of consenting age involved in the conduct, and I'm disappointed in myself that the audio was heard. I've let a lot of people down.”
A video was posted to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon showing Sharp engaging in acts with an unknown woman, with the woman's moans audible.
Clips that emerged on social media showed thousands of people tuning in live to the NSFW feed.
Sharp initially claimed in a post to X that his Instagram account had been hacked, but later deleted the post and admitted on Wednesday night that the incident was caused by his own lack of tech knowledge.
“I was engrossed in some activity and tossed my phone on the bed,” Sharp said. “I didn't know about Instagram Live. I'd never had Instagram Live on so I didn't know how it worked, and all of a sudden my other phone started ringing.”
It was his marketing partner, Jamie Fritz, who was ultimately able to alert Sharp to the situation, and someone else ultimately ended the live video, he explained on the show.
“My phone has not been hacked. It was not a prank. It was because I am a healthy and active man,” he added. “People would have thought I was lying, but come on uncle.”
Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson testified about Sharpe's lack of awareness of technology, telling viewers on the show that the three-time Super Bowl champion has called him in the past without realizing it.
But even as Johnson tried to show leniency towards Sharp, he couldn't help but goad him on Sharp's previous attacks on Johnson's professionalism.
He claimed the video was part of a cyber attack.
“I'm confused. I never thought I'd see the day that Ankh would do something out of the ordinary like this,” Johnson said. “It's just unprofessional. I'm not angry. I'm just very disappointed because I hold you to a higher standard, and the standard you tried to reprimand me for on Saturday is exactly that standard. So this really has me in complete shock.”
Although Sharp initially tried to be serious, the pair made light of the situation and on several occasions, including before the stream began, Sharp promoted a male enhancement product that was a sponsor of the show.
