Shannon Sharpe is set to return to First Take on ESPN next week, after fans feared he was going to be fired for accidentally streaming himself having sex on Instagram.
The analyst admitted on Wednesday night that he was in the video – after initially saying he was hacked – and that it was streamed by mistake to his 3.2million followers. He said he spoke to his bosses at ESPN to apologize.
He was absent from Thursday’s show, which was led by Stephen A. Smith and featured Dan Orlovsky, in what is understood to be 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 at a poker game.
It meant viewers feared that there was more to Sharpe’s absence on Thursday’s show, with many taking to social media calling for him to get back into the studio.
Shannon Sharpe is expected to return to ESPN on Monday for next week’s First Take
Sharpe accidentally went live on Instagram while having sex on Wednesday morning
‘Man if Shannon Sharpe really gets take off First Take I’m not watching anymore,’ one fan said on X.
Another viewer, fearing the worst, said: ‘It’s going to be a while before we see Shannon Sharpe on first take again, huh?’
A different fan wrote: ‘Where is Shannon Sharpe on First Take today ???’.
After initially claiming that he was hacked, Sharpe faced the music and admitted it was him in the live stream on the Wednesday night edition of his ‘night cap’ podcast.
‘Obviously I am 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, I’m embarrassed for a number of reasons,’ Sharpe said.
‘There are a lot of people that count on Shannon to be professional at all times and I always try to be professional at all times, even when I’m behind closed doors.
‘I threw my phone on the bed, engaged in an activity. I did not know IG live. I’ve never turned IG live on so I don’t know how it works and all of sudden my other phone started going off.
‘My phone wasn’t hacked. It wasn’t a prank, it was me being a healthy, active male.
‘All of a sudden people are calling me, ‘Shannon you’re on IG Live”. My heart sank. I called my agent, I called the agency, I called ESPN and I just told them the truth.’
