Shannon Sharpe warns that Tony Buzbee could share a short video of him as part of the legal case

Following the circulation of an audio recording featuring a voice believed to be that of Shannon Sharpe allegedly making threatening remarks towards a woman, the retired Hall of Fame football player has responded to the situation.

In a video posted on his social media accounts, Shannon Sharpe dismissed the $50 million lawsuit filed against him as an attempt at extortion and suggested that Tony Buzbee, a controversial attorney, might be planning to release a compromising video involving him.

On April 22, 2025, shortly after attorney Buzbee shared an audio recording with TMZ that he asserted captures Sharpe making threats against his client, the host of “Club Shay Shay” took to his own social media platforms to address the controversy.

“To my family, friends, supporters, and colleagues, I want to speak to you directly and from the heart,” Sharpe said. “This is a shakedown. I’m gonna be open, transparent, and defend myself, because this isn’t right.”

Sharpe continued, blasting Buzbee for allegedly orchestrating a targeted scheme against him, which he said could involve releasing a sex tape that attempts to “make me look guilty.”

“I believe he’s going to release a thirty-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and play into every stereotype you could possibly imagine,” Sharpe continued in the video.

“That video should actually be ten minutes or so,” he continued. “Hey, Tony, instead of releasing your edit, put the whole video out. I don’t have it, or I would myself. You know what happened, and you’re trying to manipulate the media.

Sharpe went on to say that the encounter he’s referring to occurred during the day and at Buzbee’s client’s, Gabriella Zuniga’s, invitation.

“Gabbi and Tony Buzbee want fifty million dollars, [but] what they’re getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down. My career is all about real talk and honesty. 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,” he finished.

Before Sharpe’s social media address, Buzbee and his client, Zuniga, shared an audio call with TMZ and claimed it featured Sharpe’s voice.

“I don’t know. Anything I say you’re just gonna, like, get mad at me and you’re just gonna hang up on me,” a woman’s voice can be heard saying in the clip.

Later, the voice alleged to be Sharpe can be heard replying, “I’m not going to hang up on you. It is what it is.”

After that, the male’s voice is heard telling the woman on the line that she was going to start being “a d-ck to me now,” urging her to say not to “manipulate me.”

The male voice replied: “Oh, lord, have mercy. If you say that word one more time, I’m gonna f-cking choke the sh-t out of you when I see you.”

The female voice said, “I don’t wanna be choked,” to which the male caller said, “Yes, you do. I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.”

On April 21, the news that Sharpe was being sued for $50 million for allegedly assaulting Zuniga broke the internet.

The lawsuit claimed that after the two initially met at a gym in Los Angeles, they began a relationship that turned controlling.

“[Sharpe] demanded complete control over her time and body,” Buzbee wrote, “expecting her to be at his house on his schedule, at his command, whenever he called.”

Eventually, Sharpe’s legal team replied to the suit with a statement on his Instagram that read, “This lawsuit, filed by Gabriella Zuniga and orchestrated by her attorney Tony Buzbee, is a blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars.”

Lanny J. Davis, Sharpe’s attorney, continued, “It is filled with lies, distortions, and misrepresentations — and it will not succeed.”

In the statement, they also released text messages and attributed them to Zuniga.