Jada Strong 
If you know Shannon Sharpe, you either know him from his career on the Denver Broncos as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, or for his highly controversial comments on his podcast, Club Shay Shay. From his conceited remarks about why he doesn’t sleep at women’s houses, to his questionable comments appeasing the impact of antiBlack racism, Sharpe continues to find himself in some sticky situations.
As an interviewer, it’s known that you’re supposed to educate yourself on your guests. It’s the standard to hold a certain level of respect at a professional level, especially as a man with heavy influence over both the entertainment and sports industry. Despite this, Sharpe continuously used his platform to say demeaning things about popular celebrities. Unfortunately, his latest victim was none other than Megan Thee Stallion, with his comment adding on to the multitude of obstacles she’s had to face in the past two years.
On June 30th, Sharpe released his 133th episode, apologizing for a sexual comment made towards Megan on the show Nightcap in 2023. The comment was verbally aggressive, with him stating he would have “stretched her out like a quarter to three,” if he had the opportunity. Mixing it in with a football joke, he claims that the sexual comment was made out of jest… but when talking about a woman’s anatomy on a public form of media we should address it as what it is: insensitive and sexually offensive. But why was this brushed aside so easily? I’ll tell you; it’s all a part of his marketing strategy to gain more viewers, a common method called “rage baiting.”
In his apology, he states, “I want to apologize to you personally and I did – you know I always wanted to say that I wanted to have a conversation with you, added knowing that it was going to be possible. But I was always hoping that I got an opportunity to bump into you.”
Megan accepted the apology and cheerfully took a shot of Sharpe’s Cognac Le Portier.
It’s not anyone else’s apology to accept but Megan’s, but why should we as an audience be helping this behavior by tuning in? Situations like these can be easily avoided, but the reason dilemmas keep occurring is because of the watch time that’s received. As they say in the media industry, any press is good press. What do you all think about the apology?
By Jada Strong, Junior, Kenwood Academy High School
Twitter/Insta: @JadaStrongg
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