Mariah Rose, the daughter of former NBA star Jalen Rose, unloaded on Shannon Sharpe after the NFL Hall of Famer was sued for sexual assault.
“Whether or not Shannon Sharpe is found guilty in the court of law, he’s a weirdo,” Mariah said in a video posted via Instagram on Wednesday, April 23. “This could all be a cash shakedown, whatever. I don’t care. That man is in his 50s messing with a 19-year-old.”
Sharpe, 56, was accused of rape and sexual battery in a $50 million lawsuit filed by a “Jane Doe” in Nevada on Sunday, April 20. In the court documents, obtained by NBC Sports, Jane Doe alleged that she met Sharpe at a Los Angeles gym when she was 20 years old and he was in his mid-50s.
“I know everybody wants to be taken out of the group chat when it comes to this conversation, but as someone who has grown up around professional athletes and sports and has worked in sports for years and loves sports, this brings about a bigger conversation,” Mariah continued. “Oh, God, I feel like I’m going to make some people mad. Athletes need to stop being treated like their performance outweighs their character.”
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Mariah, who obtained a journalism degree from the University of Georgia, hosts the “Hoops for Hotties” podcast. Her father, 52, played 13 seasons in the NBA and has since gone on to a successful career in sports broadcasting, most recently with CBS Sports.
“I’m quite sick of these stories coming out where it’s obvious that athletes have been getting away with treating women like objects to conquer and not people for years and years,” Mariah said. “This comes from the fact that we treat athletes like God himself if they can catch a ball or throw a ball or score a touchdown or score a ball in a basket.”
Mariah argued that athletes “have to actively teach yourself how to be a good human being.”
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“The way that they are entitled and coddled, they are having their hands held through school, they are having their hands held through relationships, they feel like they can get any woman they want because they have all of this money and everybody is chasing after them,” Mariah added. “They get addicted to this life and aren’t able to settle down. And then they’re 56 years old and messing with 19-year-olds.”
Sharpe’s attorney Lanny J. Davis claimed to Us Weekly on Monday, April 21, that the lawsuit is “filled with lies, distortions and misrepresentations — and it will not succeed.” He accused the woman of attempting “a blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars.”
The former football player also issued a video response on Tuesday, April 22, calling the lawsuit a “shakedown.”
