"But there is a reason he offered her TEN’S of millions" — Melanie King claims Gabriella Zuniga "is lying and falsely accusing" Shannon Sharpe

Podcaster Melanie King recently claimed that Gabriella Zuniga, the woman who accused podcaster Shannon Sharpe of s*xual assault, "is lying and falsely accusing Sharpe." She further claimed that Sharpe denied all allegations during a recent TikTok interview, where he said:

“It's the older women trying to shame older men in the, in the picking deal because he got all the women ain't the competition with older women. Here's them young ones that come. Yeah. That'll do what you want. They're all young…”

King shared the same video on X on April 29 and wrote in the comment section of the post:

“For the record I think this woman is lying and falsely accusing him. Regardless of age difference or how dumb it was to engage with a 19 yr old s*x worker, he does not deserve to be falsely accused. But there is a reason he offered her TEN’S of millions. Sad situation..”

King's X post about Sharpe (Image via X /@realmelanieking)

For context, as reported by ABC 7 on April 23, a young woman, later identified as Gabriella Zuniga, accused Sharpe of r*ping and threatening her in a lawsuit filed on April 20. She is now requesting $50 million in damages.

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Gabriella Zuniga accuses Shannon Sharpe of s*xual assault: Melanie King's statement explored

Sharing the video of Shannon Sharpe on X on April 29, Melanie King wrote in the caption:

“People are digging up clips of Shannon Sharpe putting down older women. He praises younger women for doing what he wants and not being independent. His accuser is 19 yrs old and finessed him for $50 million dollars..”

For reference, Gabriella Zuniga made headlines after bringing a $50 million civil case against former NFL player and media personality Shannon Sharpe. The complaint was filed in Clark County, Nevada.

The lawsuit accused the podcast host of reportedly injuring Zuniga both physically and emotionally. The woman said that in 2023, at the age of 19, she met Sharpe, 56, in a gym in Los Angeles.

According to the lawsuit, they allegedly had a "rocky consensual relationship" over two years, during which Sharpe was frequently "aggressive" and allegedly s*xually assaulted her. In addition to verbally abusing her, controlling her, and using violence, the lawsuit claimed that Shannon Sharpe further allegedly filmed their s*x encounters without her consent and later threatened to kill her.

Zuniga is represented in the ongoing litigation by famous attorney Tony Buzbee. The lawsuit said:

"Sharpe flew into fits of anger when Plaintiff noted his infidelity to their relationship, or called him out about his extraneous activities… Sharpe even figured out how to get into Doe's apartment complex without her permission."

According to the complaint, the woman claimed that despite saying no, Shannon Sharpe reportedly continued to act in the same way. As reported by the BBC, the complaint further alleged:

"After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of 'no.’”

She also added that Sharpe allegedly "manipulated, controlled, subjugated, and violated women" by using his celebrity status. Zuniga claimed in the lawsuit that she was s*xually assaulted in October 2024 and January 2025.

Zuniga also brought up an alleged event from September 2024. As reported by Coming Soon on September 12, it was believed that Sharpe was reportedly heard having s*x on Instagram Live. Zuniga called the incident humiliating and maintained that she did not take part in the broadcast.

Additionally, she said Sharpe allegedly shared tapes of their s*xual encounters with his friends after secretly filming some of their sessions without her permission.

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Meanwhile, Shannon Sharpe has refuted the accusations as of yet.