Shannon Sharpe was hit with a $20 million lawsuit after a woman claimed he and Chad Johnson spread lies about her relationship status.
Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson are getting dragged into court by a youth leader and exec at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, who says they blasted her with lies on their Nightcap podcast.
Jimalita Tillman is suing the pair for $20 million, claiming they trashed her name, made up a whole fake marriage and ruined her rep after a clip of her interacting with Usher at his Vegas show made the rounds online.
Back on April 2, Tillman says she got pulled up for a lighthearted fan moment during Usher’s residency concert.
In court docs, she said, “I participated in a fan engagement moment at a Usher Raymond concert where I interacted with the artist as a selected audience member.”
The video blew up online because of how flirty it looked, but what happened next is what’s got her lawyering up. According to Tillman, Sharpe and Johnson went on their show Nightcap and told their viewers she was a married woman and that her “husband” was so heated he was filing divorce papers.
She shut that down in her legal filing: “Following this event, the defendants made and disseminated false and defamatory statements suggesting that I was married and that my husband was filing for divorce… I am not married, nor am I currently going through a divorce.”
Tillman said their lies spread fast. The fallout, she says, has been rough. She claims it’s messed with her job, her image, and her personal life.
Even worse, Tillman says she tried reaching out to get the record fixed, but no one from the show responded.
“These requests were disregarded,” she said. “The ongoing misinformation has resulted in emotional distress and adversely affected her personal and professional relationships,” according to The U.S. Sun.
This lawsuit’s one more problem Shannon Sharpe doesn’t need right now. He already had to cut a fat settlement check over a sexual assault lawsuit earlier this year.
That case was dismissed after a confidential settlement — rumored to be between $23 million and $50 million. No charges were filed, but Sharpe always said it was bogus and called it “extortion.”
To make matters worse, earlier this week, ESPN gave him the boot.
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