DJ Akademiks has called out Stephen A. Smith for criticizing the legal strategy of Shannon Sharpe's legal team amid the latter's s*xual assault and battery lawsuit, filed by his former girlfriend on April 20. Days after the lawsuit, Sharpe announced his decision to temporarily step back from ESPN as the co-host of the show First Take with Stephen A. Smith.
During his Rumble stream on May 2, DJ Akademiks expressed his displeasure at Smith's stance regarding Shannon Sharpe's legal team. For context, Stephen A. Smith broke his silence about the legal turmoil surrounding his former colleague on his YouTube channel on April 26, where he alluded to Sharpe's lawyer, Lanny Davis, not being "impressive in this at all.”
Smith also postulated why Sharpe's lawyer released the several explicit text messages allegedly between Sharpe and the accuser, adding that it was "uncomfortable to listen to, and it was not something that Walt Disney wants associated with its brand." For context, ESPN is primarily owned by The Walt Disney Company.
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Now, during his recent livestream, Akademiks told Smith to "shut the f**k up" about the situation and not make any comments on it, claiming Smith sounded more like a "company man than a friend" to Sharpe.
"Now, this is another problem with my man Stephen A. Yo, Stephen A., it's very clear you're more of a company man than a friend... I know they paying a lot of money, but they're not paying you to specifically go talk about Shannon Sharpe. Just don't comment on it, bro. Let them go to ESPN PR to go get whatever statement they want from ESPN," DJ said.
He continued:
"Why the f**k is you talking about it when you not even backing your mans up? You're kinda lowkey even saying, 'Yo this s**t making me uncomfortable, I don't know what's going on with this s**t, I hope it ain't true, but this s**t kinda is weird.' Bruh, shut the f**k up!"
"They don't operate without his consent" — DJ Akademiks about Shannon Sharpe's lawyers
During his recent Rumble livestream, DJ Akademiks bashed Stephen A. Smith for criticizing Shannon Sharpe's lawyers, adding that, as the client, Sharpe is the one who approves of their every move. The media personality further claimed that Smith's criticisms of Sharpe's legal team were, in a way, a criticism about Sharpe himself, as he accused Smith of "playing dumb."
"When I hear Stephen A. keep saying he doesn't like what Shannon's lawyers are doing, I have to say, Stephen A., stop being a fake n***a for one second of your life. You're criticizing Shannon in a b***h n***a way. Shannon Sharpe is paying these lawyers, they don't operate without his consent," he said.
Akademiks continued:
"So when you criticize the lawyers or you criticize the moves of the lawyers, you criticize the move of your mans. So I don't know why Stephen A. Smith keeps sitting here and playing dumb."
Akademiks also accused Stephen A. Smith of not "backing" Sharpe during the lawsuit. The media personality claimed that Smith could either fully defend Shannon in public, stating that the accusations did not sound like something the former NFL player was capable of, or Smith could go with a more "laidback approach" and say he was unaware of what was going on with the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith revealed that he believed Shannon Sharpe was innocent during his appearance on the Big Boy TV podcast on April 29, saying:
“I know the brother tells me he’s innocent. I believe him... I know that he does not trust easy, and that the honest conversations that he’s had with me, he wouldn’t have with just anybody.”
For the unversed, on April 20, Shannon Sharpe faced a $50 million lawsuit that accused him of r*ping, manipulating, and assaulting his former partner, referred to as Jane Doe in legal documents. According to court documents, Doe claimed the alleged abuse occurred during their two-year relationship, which began after they met in 2023, when Doe was allegedly 19.
Sharpe has denied all allegations, accusing the alleged victim's lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of orchestrating a "shakedown" for money. Sharpe's case is still ongoing at the time of this article.
