Shannon Sharpe (statement reading)

I know my family and fans know exactly what this is about. And I'm going to be out there telling you whatever I need to say, just like I always do. I love all you guys.

Sometimes, and it's happened before, People in our community forget that they're black. And they try to appease a group of people that's probably never going to embrace them. And once they realize that, guess who's the first group to take them back? I don't know her. I ain't say nobody's name, Amanda. You don't even know who I'm talking about. I don't know. How you know who I'm talking about?

But listen, we've seen this happen before. Rest his soul, O.J. Simpson. You know, he had the famous quote, I'm O.J., I ain't black. Even Michael Jackson went through what he went through. Rest his soul. Right. Even Kanye had to be reminded. And now Ms. Owens, who, oh, I don't want no black pilots. I don't want this. I don't want that. And now we can't keep off our black media stations.

Where before she gave us her butt to kiss. Now, if I'm lying, if I'm speaking out of turn, people, y'all correct me. But y'all know I'm telling the truth. Now, you're talking about somebody that's always uplifted his community. And I was one of the first guys that had a viral moment with Cat Williams. And they couldn't wait. Excuse me. They couldn't wait to attack me.

But Candace has given y'all her butt to kiss for two decades. In the moment. What are they doing? They can't fire me. They can't fire me.

I'm not going to hang up on you. Here's what it is.

Nothing, Gabby. You want to be a bitch to me now, so.

I don't know. Have mercy. If you say that one more time, I'm going to choke the shit out of you when I see you.

Yes, you do. I don't think you have a choice in the matter.

To my family, friends, supporters, and colleagues, I want to speak to you directly and from the heart. This is a shakedown. I'm going to be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn't right. This is all being orchestrated by Tony Busby, who has targeted Jay-Z.

Tony Busby targets black men, and I believe he's going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and played into every stereotype you could possibly imagine. That video should actually be 10 minutes or so. Hey Tony, instead of releasing your edit, put the whole video out. I don't have it or I wouldn't myself.

You know what happened and you're trying to manipulate the media. The encountering question took place during the day at her invitation and now that appears to be a deliberate setup coordinated Charlie on OnlyFans. Gabby and Tony Busby want $50 million. What they're getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down. My career is all about real talk and honesty.

To my family, friends, supporters, and colleagues, I want to speak to you directly and from the heart. This is a shakedown. I'm going to be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn't right. This is all being orchestrated by Tony Busby, who has targeted Jay-Z.

Tony Busby targets black men, and I believe he's going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and play into every stereotype you could possibly imagine. That video should actually be 10 minutes or so.

This is a clear-cut end to the Butler-Heat relationship. This relationship has been over. I want to get my joy back. I'm happy here, off the court, but I want to be back to somewhat dominant. Can you get your joy back here on the court?

Stephen, I'm going to let it slide. I'm going to be a good teammate. I'm going to let it slide. Everybody's at ESPN because had you not taken the route you're taking, I would have lit their ass up. But I'm going to let it slide. You know what, guys? Congratulations, Ohio State. You won the game.

But, hey, if we're going to be on the same team, if we're going to work for the same network, don't do that. Kirk, Chris Fowler, I promise you, if you ever mention anything, any platform that I'm on again and talking about, I wonder what they're going to say in negativity, I promise you, ESPN ain't got enough bosses to keep me off y'all for what I'm going to say.

So I'm going to let y'all slide today. I'm going to turn it over to Dio before I get myself in trouble. But don't play with me. Go ahead, Dio. Damn.